{"id":209,"date":"2021-05-14T22:22:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/?p=209"},"modified":"2021-05-14T22:22:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:22:30","slug":"golden-memories-of-my-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/?p=209","title":{"rendered":"Golden Memories of My School"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Gertrudes Seludo Llarenas-Ragub<\/em><\/p>\n

It was my home away from home, my initiation to formal education. A nostalgic trip down memory lane, of wistful images of great
\nyears gone by \u2013 this is what it\u2019s like to remember my days at Villareal Elementary School. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Considered the primary university of Villareal, it has produced many notable and successful Villahanons. Its portals hold precious and unforgettable memories that remain in the hearts of its alumni. For the young Villahanons today who never had the privilege of witnessing the glory days of Villareal Elementary School, allow me to share some fond recollections.<\/p>\n

The School\u2019s physical structure was different back then, for there were not a lot of buildings. There was the Azanza Building where most intermediate grades were located, the Gabaldon (concrete) Building, the Home Economics Building that housed a busy
\nplayground at recess time, the Shop Building, the old building near the acacia tree and a makeshift PTA building. I still recall that some classes were held in rented private homes within the community to make up for the lack of classrooms.<\/p>\n

The School\u2019s main entrance was made of concrete and covered with climbing vines of garlic-scented violet flowers. The pathway from the main entrance to the Azanza building was unpaved, and most of the teachers were reluctant to wear their high\u0002heeled shoes for fear it might get stuck in the mud. To ease this problem, a pathway cementing project was undertaken. We were\u00a0mobilized to bring sand and gravel everyday when we come to school. There were even some afternoons when, instead of cutting the grass in our assigned section in the wide school plaza, our entire school population was mobilized to gather sand and gravel. A minimum number of three trips to gather sand and gravel was required and trips beyond that quota were rewarded with lavish praises or candy treats from our teachers.<\/p>\n

Our favorite spot for getting sand and gravel was the seashore just across the old Holy Name Academy. There was a time when Apoy Ninay Nunez, the old lady guarding that part of the seashore, would drive us away. In fear, we would all scamper in various directions, sometimes even leaving behind our baskets full of sand and gravel. There was no pantalan(wharf) that time, and the only house closest to the seashore was the that of \u2018Tay Benok Castillano. That part of the seashore then was the nearest beach resort of Villa. During high tide months,\u00a0especially in May, young and old Villahanons would take a dip in the water to cool themselves off from the hot summer days.<\/p>\n

Announcement of early dismissals by the school principal never
\nceased to make us jump with joy! For the more adventurous
\npupils, this spare time was used to pick some guavas in nearby
\nKalubi-an, just behind the Azanza building; others would walk to
\nArado until they reach Manggarit, where there were more guavas
\nto harvest. The pupils who stayed behind, on the other hand,
\nwould either play in the plaza or play jack stone using a marble
\nball in the shiny, cemented hallway of the concrete building.<\/p>\n

Whenever the school has guests, food preparations were done
\nat the Home Economics Building by \u2018Nay Meming (Clemencia
\nGeli-Ricalde) and Tiya Choling (Melchora Dasmarinas-Realino).
\nThey would usually ask the help of some students, and the four
\ninseparables-Zabeth Gelera, Elma Garcia, Eve Garcia and
\nmyself- were always hoping that Tiya Choling would choose to
\ncall on us for help. Sadly, she always selected other pupils.
\nDisappointed but determined to help, the four of us would linger
\naround the Home Economics Building. It was during these times
\nthat Mano Cadio (Leocadio Figueroa) would see us and send us\u00a0to gather some firewood for roasting the pig. We knew that after the guests had eaten, \u2018Nay Meming will surely spot us. True enough, she would almost always see us and invite us to have some of the leftovers.<\/p>\n

Villareal Elementary School had a wide plaza, which was usually used to host municipal and regional athletic meets. Preparations for hosting these meets would involve the whole school as well as the entire Villa community. In charge of the ground preparation was my father (Ponciano Dalwatan Llarenas) and \u2018Tiyo Tonying (Antonino Varela, Sr.). Pupils were made to bring woven lara (coconut leaves) and bamboos to be made into temporary kitchens and bathrooms. Teachers were made to bring beds and beddings for the visiting delegations. Villahanons eagerly awaited these athletic events
\nas delegations from Marabut, Basey 1, Basey 2, Sta. Rita and the host\u00a0delegations from Villa compete in what was usually a weeklong sports extravaganza. The event would open with a grand parade followed by a welcome dance in the evening for the teachers and heads of delegation. The event was meant not only to showcase the athletic prowess of the competing delegations, but also to feature their academic and artistic talents during the Literary Musical Night.
\nSchool operettas were held annually. Preparations start as early as January and the directors and choreographers, \u2018Nay Corazon (Corazon Dasmarinas Seludo and Mana Tados (Teodosia Geli-Figueroa), selected lead casts and all other participants. Some of these unforgettable operettas were Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast. The operettas were usually staged at the end of the school year and had become such a treat to Villahanons.<\/p>\n

This was the Villareal Elementary School of my childhood years. So much has changed since and many years have passed, yet the fond and golden memories linger, forever etched in my Villahanon heart and mind.<\/p>\n

The author is the daughter of the late Ponciano Dalwatan Llarenas and Socorro Dasmarinas Seludo-Llarenas. She was a former teacher at the Villareal Elementary School. She is married to a fellow Villahanon, Dr. Quirino Agote Ragub and they are now happily settled in Ottawa, Canada with their two sons, Bap and GR<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Gertrudes Seludo Llarenas-Ragub It was my home away from home, my initiation to formal education. A nostalgic trip down memory lane, of wistful images of great years gone by \u2013 this is what it\u2019s like to remember my days at Villareal Elementary School. Considered the primary university of Villareal, it has produced many notable and … Continue reading Golden Memories of My School<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/villarealsamar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}