Death of a man

Media

Part of The Philippine Educator

Title: Death of a man
Language: English
Year: 1947
Rights
Fulltext: J. SCOT'J McCORMICK the American teacher - - - 1 ' I who loved the Philippines DEATH OF A MAN By BANAO DALID Industrial Arts Supervisor, Cotabato When war was declared on December 8, 1941, Mr. J. Scott McCormick, then division superintendent of schools for Sulu, 'J,l'ganized his teaching force for war enl€rgency. . Food production wa11 an important part of this organization. A great bulk of our teachers was ttssigned to this depar';ment. Teachers began to ploy the school lawns. At the school nursery, high school teachers and those of nearby schools were given a piece of land m cultivate. Evacuation camps were being constructed in the nursery under the mana.e-ement of the writer. EvPry one was doing his level best· We worked from sunrise to sunset. Mr. MrCn\·micl<' was by nature a hard-worki n~r man. He supervised with vigilance the food production work, the propaganda section, 6 the first-aid work. He held conferences with local officials now and then. It was in my last conference with hirn on the 22nd of December when 1 suggested that he call for the division launch Sungna from Tawi-Tawi so we could evacuate in case the enemy inYaded Jolo. This was his reply: "Mr. Dalid, we are well protected, let us push on harder." I kept silent and forgot the matter all together. For fear of the airplane that came now and then I always managed to bring my children to the school nursery two kilometers away only to bring them back in the afternoon. On the 24th of December we stopped working so lal:e that I Jeciued to lea\'e my children in th~ home of the nurse1 y guard, while I went. home to my house in the town. II '· (There is always a teaeher.itl. the lif-t of every educated man and woman, one whose cluuracter and personality has had a very deep im·pression on that of his oum--a·teacher wb.ose · inf~uence has not been confined to the four walls of a classroom or · t:o the period of tlw. tutelage of hili pupils but has carried through to the rest of the existence of the latter. Such a man or woman is truly entitled to the noble name of teacher. With this, we start a department devoted to the unforgettable teacher. Contributions to this department are welcome.) TEACHER ~MY L!.~~======l3y ALVARO L. MARTINEZ========!I MOST UNFORGETTABLE There are some teachers whom we loved, and we remember them because we loved them. There are those whom we admired, and we remember them because we admired thein. There are those whom we feared, and we remember them beca-gse we feared them. But there are those who lived with us and therefore continue to exist in our lives long after we have parted with them Such a teacher is not only the unforA tired man always sleeps soundly. During that night the Japs l-anded at Taglibi, fourteen kilometers east of the town. While the people just next to our door moved out that night we kept on sleeping. I did not know whether or not the Old Man knew this landing· If he did, he must have awakened me. He must have some trust in me because in several incidents when our teachers were murdered or a school is burned by recalcitrants he always picked me to do special duty. This time he did not h1form me of the night incident. In the morning of December 25, 1941 about six o'clock the J aps came ,;hooting at the town. I went down from my house and entered a shelter four meters away f-rom the front stairs of Mr. McCormick's house. Two boys came after , me, then Mr. McCormick got in, then \/ ; gettable teacher but the perpetual men• tor. Mr. Pio David, my teacher when I was in the intermediate grades, haa been such a one to me. Simple and self-effacing, kind yet firm, he -was the one who served as a die to make an everlasting impression on the soft clay of my character and personality which came in contact with his in those formative years of my childhood. His voice was the ideal teach· !bra, his house boy, a couple came af. ter, then several laborers. We were packed up in this small dome. Mr. McCormick and I were at the door. Bullets hissed across the door front but since the J aps were east of us and the door was facing south, we were quite safe from the bullets. When the J apanese column was swinging to us and others began to land on the wharf, where we were exposed, I called aloud, "Si1·, iet us die in our own house." He immediately rushed to his house four mete1·s away, I to mine across the street with my t wo boys. The rest of the gang ran to a bodega nearby owned by Elizalde and Co. filled with abaca- Not long afterwards a shot was heard in tile house of Mr. McCormick. A J ap had shot a man more worthy than himself. 8 PIDLIPPINE EDUCATOR lng voice-jsoft, well modulated but clear, unassuming but commanding. He was llimple in his clothing, yet ever immaculately clean and neat. He was to us the picture of a gentleman teacher. Calm and serene at all times, I never saw him truly ruffled although many time.;; provoked by his pupils. Even when disappointed, because I can not think of him as one who can really be very angry, his voice maintained its softness and gentleness. Whenever he reprimanded us, that quality of his voice and the mildness of his reproof affected us more than the vindictiveness of the words and threats of our other teachers. At that early age of mine, I noticed the g-reat care he employed in the preparation for his teaching. It. impressed me even then that he was taking teachIng not as a routine but as a work of love. In dealing with the weak members of our class, he never betraved any impatience but rather did his best to help them out. His lesson plans 11nd his board-work were neatly and meticulously prepared-an example which could not but impress us, his pupils. That rliligence and lovalty !!'ave us the lnsniration to follow ~uit in the preparations of our own class work. Un to this time I am following the pattern he has set. Another thing which struck me was his hapniness and contentment in ~mite of the difficult routine of a teacher. Not once did I hear him complain or show dissatisfaction. He dealt with his fellow teacher<; with the same ~oil·it of fairn ess and fellowship which he showed his pupils. His joy over their promotions was g-enuine and sincere, and his happiness over their success was the same as if !t had been his own. I observed how contaminating- it was and how it affected the other teachers in our school. When I was assigned to teach geography in the intermediate grades, the very first person I ran to for guidance and advice was Mr . David. To confess, I was embarrassed when he received me in his home as an equal, \vithout a bit of t.race of the former relationship of teacher and pupil. With that interview, in which he gave me all the advice and guidance which I sought, with the same enthusiasm and attention he used to give me in my lessons when I was under him, I felt confident in being able to handle the subject assigned to me. His simplicity as a teacher was also depicted and lived in his family life. His home, like the home of most teachers, is deprived of the luxuries which money can buy. However, it is rich in the sterling wealth which love can give. One becomes conscious of the peace which pervades his home the very first visit one makes to his house. His children are well behaved, showing a discipline created by love rather than by the force of fear. This was the same type of disicipline he had in his classes in the school. I do not know whether he is a Catholic or a Protestant but assuredly he is a Christian. He never asked any one of us to do what he was not willing and ready to do himself. He gave more than he received and injected into our youPg- lives, throug·h this way, th spirit of service which most of us posses>< today. He bore no malice towards any one and therefore received none. JV[r. Pio David, up to the present, i·il still a teacher. Othe1·s may say that he is just a teacher, but to me and many of my cia smates who were unrler him, he is more than a teacherhe is th<> greatest man we have ever known. \\' hat we are now, we owe to him a:; wei! as to our other t~achers, as much ag we do to our parents. Mr. Pio DaYid is to me a perpetual mentor. '•