Teachers definitely do not get enough of the credit that they deserve. Besides our parents, teachers are like the second parental figure in our lives – they’re supposed to teach us basic skills and understandings, and guide us so we may succeed in life in the future.
As we grow up and realise how impossible kids are, we only then understand the true sacrifices our teachers had to go through.
Every year, McDonald’s Malaysia organises their Anugerah Guru Inspirasi – an award dedicated to celebrating and recognizing inspiring teachers that have gone beyond their call of duty to make long-lasting impacts on their students.
This year, McDonald’s received close to 5,000 stories from across the country and 25 of these stories were chosen as winners! Here’s some stories that’ll touch your hearts.
1. The teacher who stayed back for 5 hours every day to provide extra classes to her students
“As a teacher, you don’t expect anything when you help your students. It always feels like it’s part of the job as we succeed when our students succeed,” said teacher Selvamary a/p Lourdesamy (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan USJ 12, Selangor) upon finding out she was one of the winners.
Ms. Selvamary was nominated by one of her students that was immensely taken back by the compassion and dedication she had for her students. She was known for her effective notes for Biology and made the subject easy to understand. She would also stay back for five hours every day to provide extra classes for her students that needed it. Known as a pillar of support for many of her students, they continue to visit her to this day and send her gifts on her birthday or Teacher’s Day long after graduating.
2. The teacher who never gave up on students that were deemed ‘less likely to succeed’
Another nominated teacher is Mr. Darrel Wong Lee Sze (Sekolah Kebangsaan Limpaki, Sarawak) who is praised for never giving up on the students that were deemed less likely to succeed and for always taking the time to understand each of his students. Cikgu Darrel gave each of his Standard 6 students equal opportunities to learn and persevered despite many setbacks.
His student shares, “He would always go one step further than a normal teacher does. Back in 2018, he was the class and also English teacher of the Year 6 in his school. Given a class size of 25 with a large number of weak pupils and several illiterate ones, the challenges were great but he did not choose to give up. He always believes that ‘hard work breeds success’ therefore he sacrificed his own time and health to do extra classes every night for his students regardless of poor attendance.
“He also learnt that his pupils were purposeless and directionless in relating learning to their future career. To make them think big, he thickened his face up to get some professional occupationists to talk about their hard work and career so pupils can see the bright side of studying hard. Seeing the teacher’s determination, the pupils did not disappoint the teacher. With a “hopeless” class given initially, he managed to completely pass all the pupils in UPSR for English in 2018! ”
Some of his students were illiterate and he also had to find ways to win over some unsupportive parents. Cikgu Darrel even started a YouTube channel to introduce his students to flipped learning and recently started a program to encourage parents to read with their children.
3. The teacher who never had any Chinese class himself taught his Malay students Mandarin
In a small village in Gelang Patah, Johor there is a percentage of Malay students that have successfully picked up Mandarin as one of their teachers felt it was important for them to learn the language as an added advantage. Encik Muiz was a teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar, Johor, a school in a small fishing village located in the middle of big developments. Encik Muiz himself has never had any proper Chinese education but grasped the language from a friend when he was in college.
“I was not expecting my story of teaching students Mandarin at a small fishing village to get appreciated from McDonald’s and it is an honour to be one of the winners for McDonald’s Anugerah Guru Inspirasi 2020,” said Encik Muiz upon finding out he was an McDonald’s Anugerah Guru Inspirasi winner.
Well these stories are certainly moving ain’t it? Remember to appreciate your teachers as without them, you won’t be where you are now.
You can head on here to read other teachers’ stories!
Each of the 25 winners will receive RM5,000 in cash, a trophy, and certificate of recognition in conjunction with this year’s Teacher’s Day celebration. Nominators will receive RM200 worth of McDonald’s vouchers as a token of appreciation for the contribution of their stories. This year, in compliance with the nation’s Movement Control Order, McDonald’s worked with each teacher’s respective school personnel to surprise the winning teachers with their students via a video call.
Additionally, as a token of appreciation for educators this Teacher’s Day, McDonald’s Malaysia will be offering an exclusive deal available on the McDonald’s app. For RM14.99, get 2 medium iced lattes and 2 Oreo McFlurrys from 15 to 22 May 2020.
Also read: 10 Things Young Teachers are Probably Doing that You Don’t Notice
