Inside her Grade 2 classroom at Gov. Emilio Gaston Memorial Elementary School in Silay City, Negros Occidental, laughter and curiosity blend with the sound of pencils scratching numbers on paper. At the center of it all is Ma’am Grace Mesa, whose eyes light up whenever her students finally grasp a lesson they once struggled with.
At 41 years old, with 19 years of experience in the classroom, she carries with her not just knowledge, but also a legacy. “My family is a family of educators: my grandpa, mom, uncles, and aunties are all excellent teachers,” she shares. “Among them, my mom influenced me the most. I would see her checking her pupils’ test papers at home, and I would even help her record the scores. Maybe that’s why I chose to become a teacher.”
Her choice of Math as a specialization came naturally. “I saw how much they enjoyed their course, so I decided to choose Math,” she recalls. Over the years, this decision has shaped not only her career but also the countless lives of her students who once feared numbers but now find joy in solving them.
In 2023, Ma’am Grace became part of Security Bank Foundation’s Mentoring Future Leaders for Nation-Building Program, a partnership program with Ateneo de Manila University. This opportunity, she says, renewed her passion. “I feel very blessed to be chosen as a participant of this program. It has truly renewed my passion and interest in Mathematics.” Now in her third year, she has evolved from being a teacher of children to a mentor of fellow educators, spreading the hope that no learner should ever feel left behind.
Her mentoring initiative, Project G.R.A.C.E. (Guide, Reach, Assist, Connect, Engage), is her way of putting into practice the lessons she gained from the training. The project focuses on Grade 2 learners who are not yet proficient in addition and subtraction, basic skills that form the foundation for more advanced Math. When results from the Enhanced Regional Unified Numeracy Test (ERUNT) showed that 57% or 20 of her students struggled with these fundamental operations, she knew she had to act.
“It’s alarming because mastery of basic operations like addition and subtraction is very important. As a teacher, it is my dream that all my learners become confident and skilled in Math,” she explains.
Her project combined after-school tutorials with the use of engaging math manipulatives such as ten frames and number lines. Most importantly, it called on parents to be active partners in tutoring their children. “No man is an island. Teachers and parents must work together to improve the mathematical skills of children,” she emphasizes.
Ma’am Grace envisions that in the aftermath of every Math examination, students will feel relieved and confident, no longer seeing Math as a difficult subject, but as something they can truly enjoy and succeed in.
But the journey has not been without challenges. “Not all parents have enough knowledge in Math to teach their children, so I really had to double the effort during the tutorial sessions,” Ma’am Grace admits.
Still, her perseverance bore fruit. One of her students, Mark, once found regrouping in addition and subtraction almost impossible. Shy and hesitant at first, he slowly gained confidence with the help of tools and one-on-one sessions. Soon, his father proudly shared that Math had become his son’s favorite subject.
Nineteen years after stepping into her first classroom, Grace Mesa’s dream continues to unfold, not just as a teacher of Math, but as a mentor who touches lives. From the little girl who once helped her mother check papers, she has grown into a woman whose own pupils now discover joy in learning numbers.
For Ma’am Grace, her mission is clear: to guide, to reach, to assist, to connect, and to engage—not only her students but the community around them, in the shared dream of building brighter futures, one solved equation at a time.
#BetterBankingIsSustainable #TeachersMonthCelebration #MentoringFutureLeadersForNationBuilding