PEÑERA FIRE

At our last gathering – lunch at Baguio Central School – Art B. mentioned that his role model was Mrs. Feliciana V. Penera. He further told a story about her, comparing Art to his sister Beta. Mrs. Penera mentioned that it would be most ideal if his grades were the same as Beta’s. (Beta was a brilliant student, who graduated first in her class of ‘64. She later became chair of Mozcom, but succumbed to an illness in 2010 – bless her soul). And Art’s mother was dismayed at his final grade, which was a “wasay-wasay” or scythe, being in the shape of the number seven!

A blog created by one of Mrs. Penera’s daughters contains a video, a series of black and white photographs of Mrs. Penera’s life. I quite enjoyed viewing it, having recognized some of her in-laws, Mrs. Valdez, 5th grade teacher, and her sister Mrs. Gaerlan, 4th grade teacher of both Ludy’s and me. It is called Mommy’s Tribute Final. It is also found in YouTube.

http://penerafire.blogspot.com/2010/05/dr-feliciana-penera-change-of-heart.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3U_jeDOqNM&feature=player_embedded#at=46

And please find below some excerpts about Mrs. Penera during an interview. (it so happened that the interview was conducted by my sister Carmen who did this for her class – also being a classmate of Lourdes Gaerlan Maconald, Mrs. Penera’s niece).

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Dr. Penera is also a model in grooming. I looked forward to what she would be wearing when she taught our class. I could see her in a beige suit, simple hairdo, light make-up and matching shoes. When she lectured, once in a while she would toss back her head slightly and look at us without emotion - but one becomes aware that one is looking at an intelligent woman. One has also to be careful in answering her questions as one is aware she is critically evaluating your response.

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I noticed a change of heart in Dr. Penera's metamorphosis in the field of education. She related an experience that happened when she rode a jeepney and when she was paying for her fare, the driver said he already paid for her. A conversation ensued and she found out that the driver is a former student who failed her class. She said that this was the greatest lesson she learned - she apologized for the low grades that she gave and when she became principal at City High, she made it a principle not to fail anybody. She added that a child fails not because of the child but because the teacher has not succeeded in teaching the child. This is definitely a change from being a terror to being a teacher with a heart of gold so to speak.