Golf for our teachers

Our teachers are perhaps the greatest unsung heroes of all. They essentially give their lives to mold and train us during our most critical, using every tool at their disposal to bring out the best in us, and impart important values and information. Without the influence of our teachers, none of us would ever have learned to speak properly; add, subtract, multiply or divide; or have the confidence to become who we are. And once we leave school, how often do we look back and thank our teachers?

On Aug. 3, at the historic Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, Xavier School Batch ‘93 and the Alumni Association of Xavier School, are holding the 26th AAXS Annual Golf Tournament to address this. The tournament will gather the playing public and the esteemed and elite of the Xavier alumni in support of worthy causes. The proceeds of the tournament will help fund the association’s various outreach projects.

First among these is the “Para Kay Cher” program, a means to give medical assistance to the qualified retired teachers of Xavier School, beloved teachers have selflessly given their time and effort and have been instrumental in molding Xavier students into the upright contributors to society that they are now.

“The ‘Para Kay Cher Foundation is for those teachers who were responsible for us during our formative years. We owe it all to them,” explains Batch ‘93’s Kelly Uy, a concert producer and golfer. “Sometimes, when they start to retire, they end up spending all they’ve earned, all their retirement pay, just on one illness. So it’s a medical fund supported by alumni of Xavier and various charitable organizations and events like this golf tournament.”

In line with Xavier’s motto of “Luceat Lux” or “let your light shine”, the other program the golf tournament supports is the Xavier Educational Trust Fund, a program which provides assistance to the less fortunate but worthy children who cannot afford the Xavier Education. This scholarship fund was founded on the principle that “no boy who is otherwise qualified should be deprived of a Xavier education for financial reasons alone” and gives the beneficiaries a once in a lifetime chance at a high-quality basic education, another noble cause.

“It’s our 25th year out of high school, our silver jubilee. So our batch is basically the host for the year,” Uy adds. “Secondly, it’s the 50th anniversary of the Xavier Educational Trust Fund. We’ve been doing fund-raising left and right. First we did business talks. Then we did family talks, then spiritual. This is all leading up to our Alumni Homecoming on Nov. 24.”

AUB, Rebisco and J. Safra Sarasin are just some of the friends of the friends who pitched in to help early. Luckily, other classmates and schoolmates with surnames like Cojuangco, Gokongwei, Tiu and others also dug into their considerable resources to help the event attain viability, and in so doing, ensure the proper care of their ailing teachers. All are one in the spirit of giving back to those who selflessly gave the prime of their lives.

“The response has been great. How I wish our Celine Dion concert was like this,” Uy laughs. “Just by word of mouth, we were 70 percent booked.”

That is always the case when you seek to honor those who’ve given of themselves for the betterment of the children we once were.