Ruth A. Larracas

It had been her dream to paint the clouds, the birds and the bees since she was a little girl but this dream became just a dream for a long time. The teaching career which she loathed at first endeared the youngsters to her heart that she counted forty five years when she walked out of the school gate forever.

Her long years in the classrooms opened remarkable memories to cherish for a lifetime. Half of these years were spent to handle MSEP, Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkalusugan for intermediate grades. She may not be gifted with a singing voice but her innate love for music paved the way for her to study the piano which helped a great deal to shape the lives of many Tondo pupils. This musical skill enabled her to train and mentor a group of boys, the Coro Angelitos who brought fame and honor to Isabelo delos Reyes Elem. School in Tondo. This training of boys continued even after her retirement as she formed the Altar Voices, a group of altar servers in her Quezon City parish, the only boys’ choir in the diocese.

She won the most prestigious competition for educators — the METROBANK Search for the Most Outstanding Teachers of the country in 2002.

Her love for painting started as a childhood dream. Her interest in the arts helped to open the artistic eyes and imagination of her pupils. The wonderful and limitless imaginations of her classes came to the fore as they poured out their interests on every art topic.