Sister Tere: The spirit of ICA

In grade school at Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) in San Juan City, I was in awe of Sister Teresita Canivel of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception. Directress from 1974 to 1993, Sister Tere, as everyone called her, moved quickly, with purpose, yet she was never too busy to say hello.

In high school, my classmates and I would go to Sister Tere for many things—when we did well in competitions, when we had projects and when we got into mischief. She seemed invincible and ageless.

Born on Sept. 30, 1929, in Candaba, Pampanga, she did elementary studies at St. Scholastica’s Academy in her hometown; secondary and tertiary education at St. Theresa’s College in Manila (Bachelor of Science in Education, major in mathematics and minor in science, social science and English) and graduate studies in De la Salle University (Master of Arts in Educational Administration, major in educational management).

“I could have graduated from college with honors,” Sister Tere once said, “had I not spent most of my free time bowling, sometimes up to 3 a.m., and swimming.” Although she had a boyfriend then, she found “someone who could love me forever.” She entered the convent in 1960.

She dedicated herself to ICA, teaching physics at first when the school was in Intramuros and becoming principal, directress and, finally, finance administrator by the time the school had moved to Greenhills.

Curricular reform

In July 2010, Sister Tere asked me to help ICA reform and update its curriculum. With the blessings of Ateneo, I became an active consultant at ICA.

It was a joy to have worked with Sister Tere. In the last year and a half, we were able to institute reforms and innovations because people worked together.

When administration, staff and faculty cooperated to ensure that ICA became the first girls’ school in the country to be recognized by the Singaporean Ministry of Education as a Center for the International Primary School Leaving Exam (the Singapore equivalent of our National Achievement Test), Sister Tere was so happy.

When students excelled in debates and research, and garnered some of the best scores in Scholastic International’s Lexile Exam, when coordinators and teachers did creative innovations, when parents sent messages of thanks instead of complaints, Sister Tere was happy.

But what made her happiest was when alumnae would come back and contribute in various ways, or even just remember and be grateful for what ICA gave us.

During homecoming, when our class had a record number of attendees, which I proudly announced onstage, Sister Tere was grinning. When the alumnae association helped teachers and scholars, Sister Tere was thankful. When Class 1985 started a reform and innovation fund, and Class 1986 contributed to it, Sister Tere was moved.

“I love ICA because the people are lovable,” she said.  “I am sure the Lord loves them unconditionally, too.”

She loved

In December 2011, while Sister Tere and I were roaming the school corridors, two grade 3 girls approached us.

“What is your favorite subject?” I asked. The best way to know if things were fine would be to ask students themselves.

“Math,” she said instantly.  Sister Tere laughed as I did a triumphant fist-thump, “Yes!”

“What subject don’t you like?” I continued. The bright-eyed girl was quick. “Nothing! I like all of them!” Her friend nodded vigorously.

At that, Sister Tere let out a big guffaw. She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. She hugged the two girls, who were laughing with us. That day, we knew that what we did we did for these two girls and other students like them.

Sister Tere had a funky sense of humor, which she knew God shared.

Three weeks ago, at the end of the 9 a.m. Mass at Mary the Queen church, our family bumped into Sister Tere. Her mind was on business.

“I have something important to ask you. As you know, we already gave our K-12 plan to the Department of Education (DepEd). One other school got their approval last Friday, but we haven’t yet. What do we do?”

I told her ICA would get approval soon, but it would be fine to follow up with DepEd because parents, students, teachers needed to be informed about our plans.

Sister Tere laughed, “I knew it!  This is God’s blessing, meeting you like this! I usually go to the 10 a.m. Mass.” I said, “Sister Tere, 10 a.m. is also our usual Mass but today we decided to go earlier.”

That was the last time I saw Sister Tere.

The day before she went to the hospital, Sister Tere was deep in meetings on K-12. ICA got DepEd’s go signal without any hitch.

Before her body gave out two days later on Palm Sunday, April 1, Sister Tere was still taking care of her beloved school. During her last hours, she was still worrying about faculty development, the scholarship fund, ICA girls, the renovation of the covered court, cooking meals—with little fat, with little salt—for the sisters’ community.

“I want to serve as long as the Lord allows me to,” Sister Tere had said.  If she had not been a nun, she would have been a researcher analyzing the causes of poverty in the country. But under her care, many ICAns continue to help the country she loved.

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