JASMS

This is my Grade II Class picture at JASMS. I can still remember all the names of my classmates.

In the first row, left to right are Glenn, Kim, Charlie Victor, Carlo, Mark, Reggie and Michael. In the second row are Jonathan, Monica, Djhoanna, Francine, Army, Trisha, Tessa, and Jill, and in the last row... Pj, Ronald, Binky, Anna, Rachel, Me, Tina, Christina, Tintin, Malyn, Dicky, and Richard.

We were kept as a block until seventh grade where they finally separated everyone into different classes. From grade one to six, no one had first day jitters since they knew who to hang out with and who would be there. The only strangers were the teachers that handled our classes from year to year.

JASMS was fun. There was no homework, no quizzes and there was only one teacher to teach everyone everything. They manipulated our schedules as they wanted. One minute we would be talking about Math, and somehow, we would segway into what she was doing at the exact time when Marshal Law was announced.

We had two types of uniforms. The day to day ones in pastel with pockets in the front, and the gala ones which were white and had embroidered maroon ties with PWU on it. We didn't wear them though. I came to school in jeans and a tee shirt everyday. No one made a fuss. You knew who the new students were since they were the only ones to wear the uniforms. That is, only for the first two weeks. Then they catch on to the system and then everyone would come in casual clothes.

The only requirement in JASMS was that we read three books a month. One fairy tale, one mystery, and one of general fiction. We were to write reaction papers on each book and we were to create a poem and a song monthly.

They weren't strict about it either. One year, I postponed everything until the end of the school year and suddenly, Mom had to ...ahem "help" me with them.

They really can't blame me. I asked Dad and Mom to recommend a mystery novel once, I was nine maybe, and while everyone in my class read Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery novels, they recommended Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.

That was one hell of a scary book!!!!

Years later, I eventually became an Agatha Christie Fan but it was a long, long, long while before I picked up another book.

And so, Mom had to "help" me. :)

I liked JASMS though, it wasn't conventional, but it seems to have worked well for me. I think Mama teaching every afternoon us helped a lot too. it was weird. We go to school to play, and go home to get educated.

The picture above shows my classmates and I, standing in front of JASMS's man-made "mountain" I used to love going there and hanging around. It had numerous boulders to sit on, and lots of swampy ponds where there were more tadpoles than fish swimming about. There were a lot of trees and despite the fact that there were a lot of students, There seemed to be a lot of isolated spots available to sit and hang out with friends. Now that I think of it, it was very Anne of Green Gable-y.

I remember that one day, JASMS decided to start using chits for the canteen instead of money. We had to line up at a door beside the canteen to exchange money into these little paper bits and use that to buy our snacks.

I guess the students didn't understand the concept. I remember standing in line with a lot of students, finally changing my seven pesos into chits, then buying myself an orange juice. As I walked out of the cafeteria towards the "mountains" I saw chits thrown out all over the place, very much like multicolored confetti. I guessed that the student's didn't realize that the bits of paper represented money and threw them on the floor as soon as they got what they wanted.

I figure the parent's complained about the sudden disappearance of their children's allowance. A few days later, the chit system was gone and we were all back to using plain ol' money.

I on the other hand, had made out like a bandit. I had picked up the chits from the floor and proceeded to buy myself junk after junk after junk. I didn't even feel bad about it.

After all, in this particular instance, it literally was "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

I left there after completing the sixth grade. I still keep in touch with a few of my classmates. Very rarely, but I do. They were good friends.

Still are.