Teachers honored for their dedication

Students from Hushan Elementary School in Taipei show pieces of pottery made from their and their teachers' footprints yesterday. The pottery pieces will be attached to the wall outside their classroom. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

With a mission to educate pupils in his hometown, 60-year-old Lee Teng-sung (李天送) has been teaching at Guning Elementary School in Kinmen County for the past 40 years.

Lee, who has taught more than 1,000 people in Guning Township (古寧), said that some of his pupils have said they hated him and threatened to beat him up upon graduation, but years later returned to Kinmen to thank him for his strict teaching methods.

"Teaching is a career, not a job. It is my passion and I will continue to devote myself in education after retirement," Lee said at the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday before receiving an award for excellence in teaching.

Forty years of continued dedication to education has won Lee and 198 other teachers formal recognition from the Ministry of Education for their long-term commitment to teaching.

The ministry also gave distinguished service awards to another 33 educators yesterday in celebration of Teachers' Day.

Tsao Mei-chun (曹美純) was one of the teachers honored for distinguished service.

Despite having retired from Fuxing Junior High School in Ilan County, Tsao still goes to school every day to provide a voluntary counseling service.

"Teachers have so much more to offer students in addition to the curriculum. I always communicate with my students, and even learn from them," she said.

After 31 years of teaching, Tsao said students these days were more difficult to deal with, but her passion for education has never faded.

"A student told me that they are the `strawberry generation,' and can't be pressured. I told him that I am a teacher of the `peach generation,' and I can't take pressure or threats, either. And he laughed," she said.

Describing all of her students as the best gift she received in her life, Tsao urged parents to place more emphasis on education within the family, saying it was as important as school education.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) presented each teacher with three gifts: a baseball, a sweet potato and a kaleidoscope.

"My wish is that teachers can lead students to work together and face challenges together, just like a baseball team," Chen said.

The sweet potatoes, Chen said, represented the hard work of Taiwanese people and the spirit of localization.

He called on teachers to pass on the Taiwanese spirit to future generations.

"As the frontline education workers, I expect all teachers to have a multi-faceted vision, like a kaleidoscope, so that they will be able to encourage each student's unique talents," he said.

Speaking at the award presentation, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) encouraged teachers to place more importance on students' views on life, sex, the nation and the international community, while Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) promised to strive for increased budgets to improve the quality of education.