I just had a taste of teacher appreciation the Xavier way! It is unique, exciting, and, I can say, a real feast to the senses. 
We were dubbed "HEROES" and were treated the entire morning that way. I first saw Gabby, being the "spy" at the first floor lobby, reporting my and Mr. Young's arrival. The two of us (by then wearing blue capes) then entered the elevator/telephone booth (complete with faces of "adoring Xavier fans"). I remember Lamberto Datu being a "villain" and me, at the cajolement of Leigh Wong, having "to punch" him on the face. After that was the bat cave creatively adorned with cartolina bats 
and paper stalactites. I was given the power of transformation and my hand print was "encrypted" on a computer data base. I have been "identified."
In my 4G mentoring class, I was asked to guess "stone" and "bigfoot," do a charade for, of all super heroes, Nacho Libre. My mentoring group was great in the games, but Bro, Ang's was simply unbeatable.
Midmorning was the students' program. I felt so proud when my students Leonard, Michael, Phim, Martin, Nico, Jerick, Hanz, Mark among others performed either a dance, a song, or skit on stage. My favorite dance group "Dance X" performed. Their transformers move was inventive and effective. Diego de Ocampo then called me his "hero."
My acting career debuted under the directorship of Gino Chua. Many were congratulating me for being the "best actor" 
on a series of video footages. Thanks Gino and be the next Lino Brocka of the Philippines (but first hurdle and pass Filipino 4!)
Come lunch time, it was my taste buds that received a super hero treatment: as in for "the Flash's" appetite.
The students like Martin de Hoya, Jann Sy, and Diego again served us food and drinks.
I was the recipient to a number of letters from my students and here I want to share and remember as well, a few of them (if I find the time [again!
], I'll encode all the letters):
"Hey Cher! I know we can be rowdy at times... sorry for that. But behind that we greatly appreciate your hard work. Thanks cher for your patience and hard work! Happy Appreciation Day!" -Angelo Santos 4G
"Kamusta na 'Cher? Happy Appreciation Day. Today's the day where we celebrate having you for our teacher. We thank you for these wonderful quarters! Haha. Can't wait for the next." -Carlos Santos
"Hi Sir! Salamat sa lahat ng mga itinuro mo sa amin tungkol sa El Filibusterismo. Naghihirap man kaming mag-unawa, salamat sa pagtiyaga sa amin. Sana po ipagpatuloy mo ang iyong paraan ng pagturo. Ingat ka palagi at best wishes galing sa akin at galing sa 4G." Signed, Enzo Mijares
"Hi, Cher! Super thank you sa lahat! I commend u for your great improvements. Super mas okay ka na! Sana higher than 85 na bigay mo sa akin. Joke. Cher excited na ako sa DULA natin sana manalo kami. Joke. Haha. Cher, thank you for all your concern and dedication to your teaching! LA LUNA!" - Rod Lascano
"Mr. Hernando. Happy Appreciation Day! Thank you for being a good Filipino teacher. Thank you for teaching well and being fair in class. I hope you can keep up the good work." Your student Ronald Sioco
"Happy Appreciation Day! Sir, hindi ako magaling sa pagsasalita at pagsusulat sa Filipino. Pasensya na po. Salamat sa pagtuturo sa amin. Salamat po sa mga bagong "insights" tungkol sa panitikan. Natutuwa ako palagi kung "lumalabas" sa paaralan ang mga discussions. Thanks for making the lectures as informative as possible. Thanks for helping with debate once in a while. I hope, if we get a suitable topic, that we can have a good discussion or informal debate in class if we get the opportunity. It would be a great way to get to understand and know how we think. Thanks!" - Evan Chen
"Salamat sa pagkakaroon ng pasensya para sa 4G. Dhil sa 'yo nagiging mas madali mag-aral ng El Fili." -Bryce King
"Happy Appreciation Day! I wanna thank you for not being a typical high school teacher. 1st quarter has been an experience for me especially in your class. Honestly, I didn't expect you to be my teacher. Your name has appeared since last year as a CLE teacher so I do have a background info about you. I also didn't like your teaching techniques because they weren't really working. At the end of the 1st quarter, I was able to appreciate your work more. I thank you for your passion especially about the situation of our country. I thank you for the intelligent humor you share in class, which I am amused of. But most of all, I thank you for your personal effort in trying to change for us. If I remember correctly, you told my mom that "natatakot akong I'll fall short of their (Fil. Ad.) expectations: mahihiya ako sa kanilang talino." I really am grateful that you've made Filipino more meaningful and significant." - Martin Fausto H4A "P.S. Thank you po for not subtracting my points for grammar errors."
"Mister Jules! Happy Appreciation Day! Cher, thanx sa lahat! Haha... Sorry sa pagiging magulo ko sa class... promise... magpapakabait na ako... T.Y uli sa lahat... God bless!" Ang iyong bukod tanging estudyante, Reggie
"Cher, thx for the message you made for our retreat. Ipinapakita lang nito na mayroon kang pakialam sa amin. Maraming salamat." Happy A-Day. - Rayniell 4F
"Binagsak Mo Ako! joke! Always, trying naman this Qtr. Just want you to know that you deserve to stay in XS. Sobrang inspired [ako] sa mga tinuturo mo and you're always there to help us and give advice to us. Tnx lng talaga." -Dog
"Mr. Hernando! Happy Appreciation Day! Aaminin ko cher na hindi talaga warm yung reaction ko nung malaman kong ikaw teacher ko. Pero lahat yan nagbago na ngayon. I'm really thankful na ikwa guro namin for a fact na talagang naa-appreciate ko lahat ng effort mo sa class. Nung bulletin board, na-touch ako na nag-stay ka pa. Thanks for everything talaga. Pinahahalagahan ko po lahat. Andito lang ako pag kailangan mo ng kausap o kakampi... TC! God bless! -TongFu Lin
"Mr. Hernando. Ang galing niyo pong guro. Sana manatili po kayo rito ng mas matagal. Cool na cool mo talaga. Kant-ism, Deism, angas mo talaga. Happy A-Day. Galing mong umarte." - Kenn Tong
"Noong nakaraang taon cher, inakala ko na ika'y isang istrikto at walang "humor" na guro... it seems that I was mistaken, haha. Thank you sa mga jokes mo sa class cher. You really make it entertaining. Thank you rin cher sa pagpipigil mo sa klase. Siguro minsan naiinis ka na sa min pero tinitiis mo pa rin na di magalit. Thanks for that cher. Naaalala ko pa nung kinausap mo ako sa may AVR tungkol [topic]. Salamat dahil noong panahong iyon naramdaman ko rin na pinapansin din pala ako. Thank you cher. Happy Appreciation Day! (PS: Pabayaan mo na kung konyo cher. Haha.) - Lawrence Gatmaitan
"Salamat, salamat cher! Dahil sa dakilang pagtuturo niyo ng El Filibusterismo sa akin at sa mga kamag-aral ko, natuto kaming huwag babuyin ang karunungan (ayon kay P. Fernandez. Hehehe!) at bigyang halaga ito. Tinuruan niyo kami ng panghabang buhay na mga liksyon at prinsipyo na higit naming magagamit pagkatapos ng pag-aaral. Happy Appreciation Day! -Mike Yap
"G. Hernando! Ang dami na nating pinagdaan ah! And to think you haven't even had one full year of experience in this school yet! Ibang klase rin kayo eh! Not everyone can go through hell and back with students like us in just 10 months here. And, hey! We're still alive, right? I guess ganyan talaga tayong "masasamang damo"--matagal mamatay. Laging lumalaban eh! Salamat po sa lahat ng life lessons at mga karanasang sabay nating hinarap at sinagupa. Not all teachers can claim to have taken Stanly Sy to the limit. But guess what, I have to admit, you are one of them. Thanks for, somehow, still brining out the best in me, whether we're reading the bible or El Fili, studying CLE or Filipino. (Oh, and thanks for teaching me the..... Haha, remember?)" - Stanly Sy H3B 2006-2007 H4B 2007-2008
"Cher, Happy A-Day! Enjoy kayo diyan at salamat sa lahat." - Angelo Ty
"Kamusta 'Cher, Nakakaiba ka talaga cher. Yung mga jokes mo at kalokohan sa klase numero uno. Iba talaga! Thank you pala cher na tinulungan mo ako ng sobra-sobra. Akala ko nga cher hindi na nga ako papasa eh pero dahil sa tulong ninyo mataas pa ang nakuha ko sa expect ko na grado. Sana cher magkakilala pa tao sa paraan ng mga lessons at sana continue lang ung maganda ninyong paraang magturo. Salamat Cher!!! Happy A-Day! -Matthew Tan H4G
Cher! Thanks sa pagtuturo ng Filipino sa amin! Salamat din sa iyong malalim na pagtuturo at "pag-aanalyze" ng El Fili! Happy Appreciation Day! Happy A-Day! -Dexter Falcon H4G
"Thanks for being patient with 4G even if we are a bit noisy. Thanks also for teaching us el fili and making it easier a bit. Good luck in your book thing! Happy A-Day! -Benjamin Tiu H4G
"Chewba... Mr. Hernando! Pinanood ko ang Star wars 4,5,6 kagabi at napansin ko na malayo ang hawig mo kay Chewbacca. Sapagkat, mas gwapo siya! Artista pa! Wokokoko. Anyway! Salamat sa iyong pagtuturo! Ako'y natulungan mong maging bihasa na mambabasa ng El Filibusterismo! Sana'y maging maligaya ka sa araw na ito na nilaan para sa inyong mga guro! Happy A-Day" - Stone
"Sorry na lang kung medyo magulo yung class, galing mo pa rin magturo! Hirap ng Fili. -From: Ricky Mamonluk
"Happy Appreciation Day! Salamat sa pagiging pasyensyoso sa klase namin. Marami na kaming natutunan sa mga karagdagang impormasyong ipinamamahagi niyo sa klase. Sana'y ipagpatuloy mo pa ng pagtuturo sa amin ng maayos. Nagpapasalamat ako na ikaw ang naging guro namin sa huling taon ko sa Xavier. Salamat ulit! XS Ultimate Frisbee Na! - Beal Asuncion High 4G
"Sup? Thanks for being a good assistant class adviser and Filipino teacher. Marami kaming natutunang mga bagay sa El Fili. Salamat keep up the good work. - Christopher
"Ginoong Hernando! Maligayang Aprreciation Day! Salamat sa pagtuo sa 4G kung ano talaga ang nilalaman ng nobelang El Fili. Kita mo naman cher hanggang Jollibee, nagbabasa ako!!! Wahaha cgee cher ngatz! -Jerome Hong
The Xavier teachers are enjoined not to receive gifts from the students for whatever occasion, but everything that I got today goes beyond all the gifts that a teacher can wish for in this world. What can I give in return but a promise to try to excel in this field and pray that God will bless all my students past and present, all the schools I worked for, and all my co-teachers and lifelong friends.
Back to work...
