Mancini and SCS class ‘63

After a series of monthly luncheon meetings (occasionally out of town to reach out to those residing outside the city), members of  Class ’63 of St. Catherine’s School, Carcar, Cebu (then run by the ICM Sisters) are gearing up for its 50th year after high school graduation come July 13 & 14.  The bulk of the preparations centered on tracing the 35 out of 39 (four have passed away) members of the girls section only.  The boys section was separate and there seems to be no way of tracing them except for three whom we met but are not bent on joining the July affair. But we are happy that fifteen of us will come together in July to celebrate our 50 years with our high school teachers  – four ICM sisters  and two lay teachers all septuagenarians but are still on the move.  We set two days for the coming together – on the 13th we have a solidarity dinner at the Casino Espanol to honor our teachers, and on the 14th we join the rest of the alumni of St. Catherine’s School in their annual general homecoming at the St. Catherine’s Quadrangle where we the golden jubilarians are among the honorees.

It is the tradition in every homecoming that each jubilarian group come up with a presentation.  Class ’63 has decided to render a song, one of Henry Mancini’s biggest classic hits, The Greatest Gift, which is most fitting for the group.  We thank our classmate Annabelle Tan-Amor for the choice of the song and prepared all means so the group can easily learn the song.  The song was very popular especially in the 1960’s.  In fact it was the theme song of ABS at the time when we were in high school.   When we started learning the song (so far, we have had only two rehearsals), a few thoughts and feelings were shared as triggered by the first two lines of the song –“If you just could see yourself the way I do, You would see how wonderful you are.”  The question was raised – how do you see your alma mater? The feelings just flowed:  It was home, far away from home (for the boarders or the internas); It was the source of fun; When I see the building, I can’t help but smile; I was always on guard to speak English; I see it as part of a town’s glorious past – Carcar.  A few of us lamented that it is no longer the school that it used to be but that is one of the realities of change.

SCS Class ’63 was not a serious batch of students –  for us, school was fun but we complied with what was required of us. On the artistic side of us, Class ’63 produced the best thespians of St. Catherine’s School in the Drama Club presentation of Great Women in History which was an extension of  our Literature class under the late Mila de la Cerna.  Annabelle Tan-Amor was just superb as Mary Queen of Scotland and Rosemarie Cacafranca-Banaag was equally fantastic as Queen Elizabeth of England  I remember five years after high school when I was already teaching in St. Catherine’s, one of the ICM sisters recalled that particular presentation and how she was very impressed though they were only high school..  Surprisingly, Araceli Galan-Barea was amazing as Catherine of Aragon (while the rest of us joined the chorus) Fourteen of us became teachers, the others became nurses, doctors, accountants.  A few joined government service, advocates of children and women concerns.

The series of meetings already served as part of the coming together after 50 years and after July 14, it looks like the coming together will continue.  The memories of the great fun we had in our teen years help us connect with our classmates, and our relation with our alma mater should not diminish. Henry Mancini’s song clinched the group’s disposition, for indeed our high school days were among the greatest gifts of our adolescence and St. Catherine’s School is the greatest gift to every Catherinian and every Carcaranon.  For us Golden Jubilarians, the last two lines of the song express our sentiments – “The greatest gift that anyone could give to you, Would be for you to see yourself the way I do.”

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The 5th Carcar Lecture series will be held on July 6, 2013 at the AudioVisual Room of St. Catherine’s College at 1:30 p.m.  The writers to be featured will be Vicente Alcoseba and Vicente Alcover.  The lecture series is part of the project of the Cebuano Studies Center headed by Dr. Hope Yu with the assistance of the Department of Literature of the University of San Carlos.