"Good morning, class." Ms. Salazar greeted the assembly of grade 12 students in San Alfonso Liguori High School, a humble school located in the town of Sto. Cristo, Philippines.
"Good morning, Ms. Salazar." The students replied in unison, standing upright. After being asked to sit down, Ms. Salazar began to discuss her lesson about the Pythagorean theorem, a popular topic in mathematics.
Ms. Maria Teresa Salazar, a woman in her late 20's, is the one and only math teacher of San Alfonso Liguori High School. She has a huge passion in teaching her students mathematics with the sole intention of making them realize that this so called hard subject is not really hard at all, as long as they study and listen to her lectures.
"Okay class, our lesson for today is about the Pythagorean theorem. And by the way, please kindly turn in your homework yesterday so I can check them after the class." Ms. Salazar said, her eyes focused on the entire class, eager to receive their work.
The students passed their assignments which were written in yellow pad paper. Some of the assignments were hurriedly scribbled or even plagiarized. However one of the papers appears to be neatly written, the equations are properly aligned and easy to read. Ms. Salazar took all of them and piled them on top of her desk before turning her back against the board in order to provide a visual representation of her lecture.
As the papers were submitted, Ms. Salazar began writing on the board the following words:
"The Pythagorean theorem
a² + b² = c²"
"Class, what do you know about the Pythagorean theorem? Please raise your hand." A young student suddenly raised his hand and stood up upon hearing Ms. Salazar's question.
"Yes, Mr. Justiniano?" The math teacher called out.
"The Pythagorean theorem, also known as Pythagoras' theorem, is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides. It was discovered by Pythagoras, an ancient Greek mathematician. The formula for the Pythagorean theorem is a² + b² = c². But in some cases, it can be rewritten as a = √c² - b² or b = √c² - a²."
Ms. Salazar's face beamed with delight as she heard such a wonderful answer from one of her top students. Applause echoed throughout the classroom as the young student took his seat once more.
"That was an amazing answer! You are indeed studying well!" Ms. Salazar commended the young student, whose school ID bore the name Trent Justiniano. Trent is a 17 year old student who sets studying as his priority since he wants to make his parents, who had worked so hard to provide his tuition, proud.
During the course of the lesson, two male students, whose names are Bryce Dimaculangan and Emilio Marcelo Jr, also known by his nickname "Leo", began gossiping in hushed whispers about Trent.
"Grabe naman yan tol, napaka-bida bida nya! (Damn bro, he's really a braggart!)" Bryce said in a voice not loud enough to catch Ms. Salazar's attention while facing Leo, who is just sitting next to him.
"Oo nga e, akala mo kung sinong matalino, wala namang kaibigan. (Indeed. He may appear to be smart, but he has no friends)." Leo replied before picking up a pencil and began taking notes.
As the class came to an end, the students took up their bags after bidding Ms. Salazar goodbye in unison before leaving the classroom. The two boys who were gossiping about Trent approached him just before he had exited the door.
"Hey, Trent. I see that you're really quite good in math. I'm quite amazed." Bryce sarcastically complimented the young man while fishing out his wallet from his pocket. "Do you want me to treat you for lunch?"
"Yeah, sali na rin ako. (Yeah, I'll join as well.)" Leo said as he took out his wallet as well. Feeling grateful and surprised by such a generous offer, Trent happily agreed, smiling.
They then proceeded to the school cafeteria, which is slowly being filled with students from different sections, as well as teachers who are eager to sate their hunger during lunchtime.