Teacher sketches each student in her class as Christmas gift

By Coconuts Manila

Jan 8, 2019 | 4:10pm Manila time

Props to this badass teacher who gave her class a Christmas gift they won’t forget — a portrait sketch of each and every one of them.

English teacher Roselyn Barcoma shared a now-viral Facebook post yesterday of sketches of her Grade 9 students from the Holy Redeemer School of Cabuyao in Laguna.

She says in the post that she started sketching on Dec. 1 and finished on Sunday. “Not an easy task, but I’m glad I made it,” she wrote.

The photos show Barcoma posing with some of her sketches. The last shot shows all of the portraits placed on the students’ respective desks.

Barcoma told Coconuts Manila that as a class adviser, she wanted to give her students a special gift they’d take care of. “I want them to be happy and get inspired,” she said in Filipino.

She shared that she had no formal training in the arts. “It’s just my hobby. I get tips and ideas from video tutorials and posts on the internet.”

Barcoma said she gave the gift to her class of 27 students yesterday, the first day of classes after the long Christmas break.

She told Coconuts Manila that she was supposed to give it during their Christmas party last year but she wasn’t finished yet. “They didn’t have any idea,” she said.

“We had class first and talked about what they did on Christmas vacation,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. “Then I made them go out of the [classroom]. That’s when I placed the portraits on their desks.”

“At first they were speechless. Then they thanked me. They were amazed. I was glad they liked the gift,” she added.

“I didn’t expect that it would go viral. [I’m] overwhelmed with the number of reactions and shares. I’m thankful because a lot of people appreciated what I did.”

Her Facebook post received over 700 likes and 70 shares. Local news outlets have also reposted the photos on social media. Netizens loved the gift.

Liang Galoy wrote in Filipino that Barcoma was amazing.