Teachers – INC Giving Project

Showing Kindness to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

We have seen and heard about the sad events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School: 17 students killed by a shooter. Another senseless act.

In the wake, one of the many questions being tossed around the nation is, “How can I help?”

Staff from the high school have reached out to answer this question. With a simple search, you can find the school’s requests as well as various organizations asking for help in preparation for school reopening on February 27th.

Please join us in sharing kindness and love to the staff and students. Here are some of our suggestions. As with all acts of kindness, don’t forget to share incgiving.org or incmedia.org

Supportive Banners: Organizers are asking for supportive signs and banners, preferably laminated.
Care Packages: School supplies and practical items. We suggest including a card. You can use the template below.

We have also included below a mailing label ready to print and fill out for easy mailing.

“Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.” – Proverbs 3:27 TEV

Card Template (8.5 x11 Print Size): INCG_Card_Template

Mailing Label(8.5 x 11 Print Size): INCG_AddressLabel

Thank You To My Teachers

As soon as I arrived at my school, I told all my invited teachers not to forget that it was Teachers Appreciation Day! After school, I got dressed in a clean uniform and I felt excited that I would be able to perform in front of my teachers. I went to the house of worship, where the event would be held, and I was surprised that Ms Gillooly, Ms. Balendran, Ms. Mac and Mrs. Cox were already there.

I went straight to them and warmly greeted my teachers. I saw people at the chapel gallery, while some were busy preparing the refreshments. Overall, it was a great place to be – everyone was smiling and teachers were entertained by the students. Finally, it was time to settle down because the program was about to start. I felt nervous and waited patiently with the other kids.

For the opening number, we sang the song ‘Never Turn Away’. I saw my teachers’ facial expressions, and they seemed happy and impressed with our performance. That gave me a feeling of relief and joy because we sang with all our hearts!

There were a few more songs performed by the older children. All were meaningful songs because they were taken from our Church music albums. I think it also helped that the lyrics were shown on the TV monitor because I could see teachers reading them at the same time. When we were not performing, we would either clap or dance along to the music. It was fun!

Another great part of the event was playing a game where we would guess some Filipino words that made it the Oxford Dictionary. The teachers watched a short video about these words that were flashed up along with their meanings. Whoever answered the correct Filipino terms would win an INCGiving bag! I was impressed by how attentive the teachers were during the game, kind of how we must look when they are teaching us!

“When Jordan invited me to Teacher Appreciation Day I was both humbled and honored. The confidence and dedication shown by the children as they performed was inspiring. It’s moments like these that remind me why I chose to go into teaching in the first place. Having an impact and making a difference in the lives of young people is what teaching is all about, and these children really did make me feel appreciated. What a special and worthwhile event! I can’t wait for next year!” – from Georgina, Teacher

For our finale number, we danced with excitement to the tune of ‘All Around The World’. Then, it was time to hand-out certificates to our teachers for helping us with our education. Before receiving the certificate, each student got to meet their teacher at the front and give them their very own ‘No.1 Teacher’ badge as a souvenir. Then, we had our pictures taken, and I think we all felt very proud that day! When the event was over, I was happy with myself that I was able to give something back to my teachers in my own special way.

Thanks to the Church and INCGiving for making it happen!

Contributed by: Jordan Sison, UK

Uplifted & Much Appreciated: A Teacher’s Perspective

The opportunity to be part of Teacher Appreciation Day, Thursday, 14th of July 2016, was an occasion I was looking forward to. I have been teaching for just over 20 years and have never been involved in such a celebration.

Upon arrival at Iglesia Ni Cristo – Europe Main Office, Sunbury-on-Thames, I was warmly welcomed and invited through to the marquee and displays. I met some colleagues who had also graciously accepted the invite and together we experienced the joyful nature of the afternoon.

photo_2016-09-20_15-24-28 — Louise Cowley, (author of blog) with her student Tyris Sison, during the INC Giving Teacher Appreciation Day in Sunbury, London, United Kingdom.

A teenage member of the Church gave our group an informative guide through the display of photographs of the Church of Christ throughout the world. Her pleasure in sharing the wonderful way in which the Church represents itself around the world was a delight. As a teacher of primary-aged children, it was refreshing to see a young person speaking so passionately and articulately.

0s4a4932 — Students perform a number for their invited teachers during the #INCGiving Teacher Appreciation Day.

0s4a4894 — Teachers are given the opportunity to mingle with each other along with their students.

0s4a5024 — One by one, teachers were brought up on stage to be recognized by their students.

The main part of the celebration took place under the marquee where groups of children sang songs expressing their appreciation for their teachers and also giving humble thanks to God for providing educational opportunities for us all. It was inspirational for me to see how the children value the efforts of their teachers and to listen to their aspirations for the future. To know that a love of learning is so valued among a community really reminded me that I can and do make a difference.

0s4a5084 — Teachers join their students for some photo booth fun during the INC Giving Teacher Appreciation Day.

0s4a4949 — Anika Lorin Ching, one of the INC Giving volunteers, recognizes the teachers she invited during the Teacher Appreciation Day.

I left the celebrations feeling uplifted and much appreciated. It was quite an afternoon of joy and blessings and I was proud to have been invited to such a special occasion.

0s4a5039 — Tyris Sison recognizes his nursery teacher, Ms. Louise Cowley (author of blog) during the INC Giving Teacher Appreciation Day in Sunbury, London, United Kingdom.

Contributed by: Ms. Louise Cowley, A Nursery Teacher Invited to the Teacher Appreciation Day in Sunbury, United Kingdom.

A Token of Gratitude

Saturday April 23, 2016 was Teacher’s Appreciation Day. Members of my locale of San Gabriel Valley, including myself, came early to help set up tables and food, and also to help out with registration tables, decor, and sound checks.

Some of us, Binhi, were rehearsing our performance since we were the first group. Our performance was to be in sign language.

Soon Brother Ruben De La Cruz, Sr. led the opening prayer for the program. Afterwards, Brother Feodor Fermin and Sis. Neszille Manuel made a brief introduction and then they called us Binhi to start our performance.

We performed the song called “You Have Made A Difference.” It was to show our teachers that we appreciated everything they did, the sacrifices they had to make, to make a difference in our lives. The fun part of the performance was that we performed in sign language as mentioned before. It was quite interesting, considering that it was the first time for some of us to use sign language.

Usually it is the teachers who take care of the students. On this day, the young members of the Church wanted to show their gratitude and give back. A game of Family Feud was played with the teachers and church members. Each question was related to school work, supplies, etc. We also recognized the teachers and gave them supplies to help because there are often shortages. The final performance was rendered by the CWS and some Binhi members singing “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.”

To close the event, a spiritual and inspiring message was given by our Resident Worker Bro. Andrew Taaca. Like always, we open an activity with a prayer to guide us throughout and end it with a prayer to thank God for the success of our activity. – Contributing Writers: – Allysia Paige Fermin, 12 years old, 6th grade, CWS & Kirsten Gemeniano, 12 years old, 7th grade, CWS.

“My teacher, Mrs. Toran, came to the event. She is my History teacher, and she even was my brother’s English and History teacher a few years ago. I invited her because I truly appreciated her effort in teaching me, and because she is one of my favorite teachers.” – Kaleia Mei Gamiao, 12 years old, 7th grade, Binhi

“Teachers get a bad rap on television. For you guys to take time out of your day, we’d like to honor you, for what you do, because it means a lot, and I want to say Thank you, Mrs Nakano. I was very glad and happy that my 2nd grade teacher came. She is very nice, kind-hearted and most of all very patient. Not once that I’ve seen or heard her lose her cool. She goes above and beyond to help us.” – Allysia Paige Fermin, 12 years old, 6th grade, CWS

“It’s important to appreciate teachers because they work hard to teach children even those who don’t want to listen most of the time. They go through a lot of troubles in school and in their own lives. We think being a teacher is pretty self-explanatory. You teach kids to learn the way of life and how to do things in certain circumstances. I feel like more kids today aren’t really appreciating teachers enough other than the teachers who make class fun, although they should all be appreciated. But what about the teachers who try their best to teach kids who are always interrupting and noisy? Would they be counted as nice teachers? Or would they be counted as bad teachers because of the kids who don’t appreciate the teacher? The same goes to substitutes. I’ve been in a lot of classes where the substitute is trying to keep everything under control but the kids are just too noisy and the substitute has to raise their voice in class to keep everyone quiet and listening.

I chose to invite Mr. Silva because he’s one of those teachers. Mr. Silva is a funny teacher but he could get ticked off and yell at us because of some argument that’s going on. There are kids who I don’t think appreciate Mr. Silva for his comedy or the way he teaches. Well, maybe his comedy. But I really do appreciate Mr. Silva taking out his time in the day just to teach kids about science, engineering and robotics. Mr. Silva is a kind of teacher who appreciates his students telling him jokes or just telling him what they’ve learned in school or even maybe just having a casual conversation.

I recognized Mr. Silva at Teacher’s Appreciation Day because I wanted to show how much I appreciate him. I also treat him as a close friend that teaches me about science and engineering which he was once taught in his life. Mr. Silva is a teacher who makes class fun and interesting with the fun facts and the tips and tricks he has up his sleeve then reveals to us to make it easier on us. But it doesn’t make it easier for him. Mr. Silva gives us things to make it easier on us, We students should do the same thing since we don’t really give teachers back what they give to us. Teachers are always caring to their students, they do their best to give us what we need and use in the future.” – Cason Gemeniano, 14 years old, 8th grade, Binhi

“I had invited 2 teachers for this event; Ms. Chong, my science and homeroom teacher, and Ms. Canales, my math teacher. They are from Telesis Academy of Science and Math. I invited my teachers to this event because I feel they needed to be recognized as great teachers. They have made my school year the best so far and they make learning fun. They are teachers who I can reach out to anytime and they will always help me.

Once all the teachers and students were up in the front, I was introduced by Brother Feodor to come read the cards I made for the teachers I invited. My second short speech had some people laugh. My brother, Cason was then called to read his card to his teacher that he invited. I believe that his short but funny speech got more laughs than mine. The teachers were given the opportunity to speak. The teachers who spoke had said compliments about our event. They thanked us for having a day just for them.

Everyone was having so much fun that they still stuck around even after the closing prayer . So I decided to take pictures with my teachers along with my brother’s teacher.” – Kirsten Gemeniano, 12 years old, 7th grade, CWS

Contributors: Sister Donna Gemeniano, Sister Allysia Paige Fermin, Sister Kirsten Gemeniano, Sister Kaleia Mei Gamiao, Brother Cason Gemeniano, San Gabriel Valley, California