LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET? Kimberly Tayab?s Grade 6 classmates at Puguis Elementary School hugged her when they saw her back in school on Monday.

They knew that Kimberly, 11, was still in grief. Her mother, Concepcion, was one of the 75 people who died in the massive landslide that buried a section of Little Kibungan in Barangay Puguis here on Oct. 8.

?I am fine,? she told the Inquirer.

But it was obvious that Kimberly longed for the company of her friends.

Over at Benguet National High School in Barangay Wangal, junior student Roxanne Usana?s classmates wondered where she was.

She did not report for class on Monday. Efforts to contact her on her mobile phone failed.

Usana, 15, is the lone survivor after her family?parents Bonifacio and Marissa, and brothers Ariel, 10, and Joseph Allan, 18,?was buried in another landslide in Barangay Buyagan that same Oct. 8 night Tropical Storm ?Pepeng? (international codename: Parma) caused heavy rains.

Altogether, 20 people died in Buyagan.

As this town picked itself up from the devastation brought about by the landslides, teachers have resumed classes with a common lesson plan: Make schools a comfort zone for learners, for those who lost their loved ones and for those who feared going back to school.

Both schools held somber flag ceremonies on Monday. Some students were sad and on the verge of crying after learning that some of their classmates would never come to school again. They had died in the landslides.

Puguis Elementary School principal Ambrosio Atew asked the Rev. Fr. Abner Dalilis to lead the prayers in Puguis. Benguet National High School principal Cerila Taynan called a teacher to lead the prayers in Wangal.

Five pupils died in Little Kibungan?Von Timothy Valdez, 10; Novie Anne Banasen, 12; Jeanson Bumakil, 9; Anthony Bumakil, 11; and Edjalyn Gayo, 6.

Eight students no longer reported for classes at Benguet National High School. Two of them?Berlyn Bel-ot, 15, and Emilzon Akiapas, 14,?died in Buyagan.

The others?Ruthi Valdez, 14, Rex Marcelo, 13, Joy Soriano, 14, Jerome Cayat, 13, Senia Juan, 13, and Judilyn Lorena, 12?died in Little Kibungan.

Gift of life

During prayers at Puguis Elementary School, Dalilis said everyone should be thankful for the gift of life.

?Look at the person beside you and say thank you since you are here,? the priest said.

The flag ceremony and the prayers over, Atew and the teachers asked the pupils from Little Kibungan to remain.

At least 70 children stayed and the teachers gave them each notebooks, sheets of paper and pencils that the teachers said they bought with their contributions.

Symptoms of trauma

Atew said more students from Little Kibungan did not report for classes on Monday. He asked the teachers to observe students who may show symptoms of trauma.

?Watch them closely. Some may be staring blankly,? Atew said.

Imelda Ciano, a music teacher, said she wanted her students to feel secure following the killer landslides.

Prayers for Usana

At Benguet National High School, Taynan said the teachers had yet to submit attendance reports to see how many came from the two villages hit by the landslides.

Usana?s adviser, Lolita Libag, told her students to pray for Usana. ?Life must go on,? she said.

In his classroom at Benguet National High School mathematics teacher Lee Pekas offered a message to one of his students who died: ?If you are here, just sit with us, but don?t say anything.?