Emmanuel Cronico, a teacher from Tigaon North Central School (TNCS) in Camarines Sur, shared a photo of one of his students who brought him a plastic bag of ‘aroyo’, a rice cake delicacy of Bicol.
He shared on his post that the student said that he wanted to give the kakanin as a sign of gratitude to him after the teacher treated the kids with a fast food meal.
Cronico shared that he thought of giving the students a treat to motivate them to attend face-to-face classes.
“Two years na nasa bahay lang po yung mga bata, marami excited na bumalik sa eskwela. Meron din naman na nahihiya at nawalan ng kompyensa. Para ma-welcome po silang lahat sa klase ko at ma feel nila na belong sila, at para na rin ma prepare at ma motivate sila for this school year, nag organize po ako ng simple treat for them. I asked help sa FB at may mga nag share ng kanilang resources. Nag ambagan para ma realize po yung activity na iyon. Nakakatuwa kasi marami ang gustong makibahiga. Actually po as of today, may nagpadala pa sa amin ng yum burgers from a fast food chain from an anonymous donor,” said Cronico in an interview with The Filipino Times.
The student in the photo is 8-year-old Michael A. Apelledo, Jr., a grade three student of TNCS.
In his post Cronico shared his realization that we ‘generously sow seeds of love, and reap the same.’
“He shared that they prepared this food until late night just to bring these to school today. I asked him why he’s giving me these, he quickly replied: “Pasasalamat po sir. Tig patao po ni mama ta tig pa Jollibee mo po kaya kami kan Martes,” captioned Cronico.
(It’s a form of thank you because you treated us with a fast food meal last Tuesday)
“Then, I realized that when you generously sow seeds of love, you’ll reap the same too. Kindness is so powerful. Let’s always choose to be kind everyday,” he added.
His post warmed a lot of netizens with some saying that ‘kindness is contagious.’
It has now over 17 thousand heart reactions and has been shared by more than 5,000 accounts.
“Nakakatuwa! Hehe Walang pag sidlang tuwa na appreciate nila at ng mga magulang nila yung simple act of kindness na inorganize ko for them. Masayang isipin na yung kindness talag contagious, pinapaunawa ko sa kanila na hindi naman required na ibalik sakin kung ano ang binigay ko sa kanila. Na gawin din nila iyon sa oras na may nangailangan rin ng tulong at pag kaya na nila,” said Cronico.
Cronico said that he did the gesture to motivate his students as he believes that they needed a boost after two years of being cooped up in their homes.
“Hindi biro ang maging teacher. Kailangan kasi talaga na mahal mo yung trabaho mo. Kailangan passionate and enthusiastic ka. Yung mensahe ko lang talaga sa kanila everyday is yung mag-aral ng mabuti at magpakabait. Simple lang yun pero mahalaga. Kailangan ng mundo ng mga mabubuting tao. At kung sisimulan natin iyon sa bawat silid-aralan, makakaasa tayo na darating ang panahon, puro pagmamahal at pagbibigayan ang makikita natin. Sa mga magulang naman ng mga bata, ipagpatuloy ano man yung ginagawa ng bata sa silid-aralan. Kailangan yung pagpapalaki sa kanila ay produkto ng matibay na partnership ng magulang at ng guro,” said Cronico.
