Thomasite in Tarlac
by Oliver Carlos
“Go home and plant camote!” I would always hear those words when Mr. Gabriel Tabinga gets angry. Mr. T (who later became Dr. T) was our Agriculture teacher in high school. He’s a real farmer, born and raised in the far-away island of Cuyo. He was one of the oldest teachers in UP Rural High School in the late 80s. I think he must be a product of the Thomasites.
Thomasites were the first batch of American teachers deployed to our country in 1901. They got their name from the ship that transported them here, the USS Thomas. They were known to be extremely strict. Old folks would talk about their methods which included spanking, making the students kneel on a bilao of mongo beans, and squatting while carrying a load of heavy books.
If you do your Math, you would find out that a 21-year old Thomasite in 1901 could have been the teacher of your grandparents or great grandparents who were elementary and high school students in the 1920s to the early 1940s. The youngest Thomasite would have retired just before World War 2.
One of the oldest physical photographs I found in my father’s house was the high school class picture of my paternal grandmother, Ceriaca Miranda. She was born in 1913 and grew up in Gerona, Tarlac. The picture had a label, Tarlac High School, 1929–1930. That school is now known as the Tarlac National High School. It’s located in Tarlac City, the capital of the province. In the middle of the photo is an American teacher. My Dad is very sure that the said teacher was a Thomasite.
I can understand why the Thomasites were strict. They had to be tough, they had to implement hard discipline in their classrooms. Imagine the situation in 1901. Their mission was to establish the very first public schools in the Philippines. It was a time when very, very few Filipinos go to school. In the Spanish Era, only the mega rich elite can afford school. A vast majority of our countrymates were farmers and didn’t know what school was, and how to behave in school. In 1901, these people were crossing over to the new era. So, when the pupils went to the American-run school, they would be rowdy and oftentimes untidy. Thus, Mr. Thomasite would exclaim, “Go home and plant camote!”
When these Thomasite products later on became teachers themselves, it was just natural to employ the same brand of discipline from the Thomasites to their own students. This probably explains why our old teachers were very strict. They were just passing on what they learned.
In the Bible, Jesus also wanted his disciples to pass on what they learned from him. He said in Matthew 28:19–20 (NLV):
“Go and make followers of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do all the things I have told you. And I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
What have you learned from Jesus lately? Is it a lesson on loving others, forgiveness, gratefulness, being joyful, being prayerful, be saved, or anything else? Who is the Lord showing you to pass these to? Let’s rise up to meet the challenge Jesus is giving us.
