12/09/2026
PROMISE KEPT🎨
What started as a simple challenge from a teacher eventually gave 59 students something they could keep long after graduation.
Teacher Mailyn Esquelito Akoy once encouraged her advisory class to study hard and promised that if everyone made it to the honor roll, they would receive something from her.
Her students took the challenge seriously.
All 50 students in her Grade 12 STEM advisory class at Notre Dame of Tacurong College made the honor roll. Of them, 43 graduated With Honors while seven received With High Honors.
With her students having fulfilled their part, Teacher Mailyn made sure she fulfilled hers too.
Instead of buying a ready-made reward, she used her own talent to create something personal. She drew a portrait of every student in her advisory class by hand.
It was no small task. Teacher Mailyn was also preparing lectures, completing weekly learning plans, and handling her regular classes. She admitted that she initially wondered how she would manage everything, but within about a month, she finished all 50 portraits.
And she did not stop there.
She drew nine more portraits for students from other sections and strands, bringing the total to 59 handmade portraits that she prepared as graduation gifts.
Teacher Mailyn had only spent around four months with the class, but she shared how meaningful it was for her to have become part of her students’ lives and dreams, even for a short time.
Years later, the portraits remain a memorable example of a teacher who kept her word and took the time to make something personally for her students.
Kudos to Teacher Mailyn for keeping her promise and making each student feel appreciated in such a personal way.
