A teacher's happiness especially a teacher- adviser is when all the students in the advisory class is 100% promoted at the end of the school year. When I started my first teaching job in a private school, I gathered all my student officers and requested them to motivate everybody in the classroom, extend help to slow learners especially in making their projects. When the school registrar held a survey for students with failing grades to prepare them for summer classes, she was so amazed when I said none. This I made a pattern when I was given the opportunity to work as a public school teacher and the same strategy worked when I was an adviser for three years before I was given a special task being an ICT incharge for Grade 9 level.

In my class now going 4th quarter, I noticed a student who already had 8 consecutive absences so I asked her adviser @georgie84. We decided to have a home visitation with the information from her classmates that they know a store where they are selling fried chicken but none of them knows where is her house since she is a transferee.

When we arrived on the said store, it was closed. We asked from a store nearby but said they have to start selling at late afternoon and probably they are on the market to buy ingredients.

We asked some people near the store but nobody knows where is their house until someone told us to go to the house of the space owner for the store where they are renting.

The old woman told us to just wait for an hour because the father was on the market purchasing the store's needs. I and @georgie84 felt hungry since it was already snacks time so we went to a fastfood nearby and spend there waiting.

We went back to the store and there was her father already. We learned that her daughter didn't like to be transferred because of having no friends on her new school. The student is a shy type and maybe it is hard for her to gain new friends.


The father said the reason for her transfer is the loss of their previous business after they were demolished when a Korean restaurant was built in the place of their previous store, that was their livelihood for more than ten years. They found a new place with the existing store which is far from her daughter's previous school.

He furtherly admitted that he never made follow-up with her schooling because he mainly concentrated on how to make money and he entrusted the responsibilty to his wife who also failed to do so.

He promised to accompany her daughter the next day in school because we encouraged him to talk all the subject teachers of his daughter and to also know what are the remediation activities her daughter has to perform. We also promised him to help explaining the subject teachers with the cause of her absence.

The following day as agreed, the student went back to school and the father had the chance to talk with the understanding subject teachers.

Today is scheduled the pre- final examination and only three weeks to go before the school year ends. Everytime I do attendance checking, I'm happy to call the name whom I saved from dropping out. As the student's promised that she no longer commit even a single absence starting when she returned, I'm happy that she never fails me with the promise. For sure with the few days remaining of the school year, it is a pleasure that the student and the parents can remember our efforts.

When teachers are considered as second parents, therefore the motivation for students to go to school and to do good in school will start at home. Parents must monitor their children, if teachers tried their best to transfer learning to 60 students in a classroom, then parents please do your share for the future of your very own children.

@felicitas