Remembering Cattleya Over a Cup of Coffee
by Mavic Gisala-Pineda

As I sip my non-sugar Americano with half and half milk, I smile to myself trying to think what to write about my high school twenty five years ago. I don’t know why I’m assigned this task, my field is IT. Perhaps, my colleagues perceive me as a relentless volunteer in the group with a pronounced sense of childhood mischievousness.


There were only two high school senior sections in HTA Girls dept back in the 1980s. The Salesian sisters supervising the Girls dept during that time wanted to take care of the girls better and did not want to accommodate too many students. The sections were named after flowers, Cattleya and Violets.

Cattleya was not the cream section since most of those with the academic achievements did come from violets. But Cattleya was the “meat of the pie”. The girls in this section were so united that they were at par with the French musketeers. When they move, they move as one. It was a character they have built upon. And because of this, they were also able to accomplish good things during that last school year in HTA.

Here are some trivia that exhibits how united was Cattleya then.
The class prepared for their start-of-the-school-year recollection when it was postponed because of a storm that came the day before. The Cattleya class, overwhelmed by frustration decided to call-off their classes that day. Sr. Celia Tacujan, FMA, the class adviser, of course was surprised that her girls left without notice. It’s not just the girls, duh, it’s the whole class!! Cattleya went to boycott the class? No, they just decided to call-off classes after all, they were conditioned to leave for a recollection. So since they cannot have a blessed day, they decided to use up their energies outside the class! Imagine what happened next? Sr. Celia tried to look for the girls. And to her further surprise, nobody admitted who led them to just call-off classes. Every time she asked, a girl would say—“We all decided to leave the class today!”


Linggo ng Wika is a tradition in all local schools. And HTA was not an exception. It actually gave the Cattleya girls an opportunity to show what they can do—write a mini-play, research on historical facts, direct a play, memorize long scripts, act without inhibitions, make bloody and dramatic special effects and follow a time frame. The girls did all of these without a mentor supervising their activities. Sister Violeta Tuazon, FMA, the principal then, was so happy and proud with the performance that she requested the group to present again to the whole student body the play about the 1898 revolution. This time, Sr. Violeta had some wooden bolos made for the performers.


Aside from the sports week, the Cheering competition was an event almost all the girls look forward to. To the dismay of Cattleya, Violets was penalized and prohibited to join the cheering competition. It was only Cattleya-- as a whole class.. as a whole team.. that made preparations for the competition. Composing jingles, making the formation setup, planning for the costumes, cheer dancers making the moves, regular practice and orchestrating all the activities to make it work—these were the tasks at hand. There was no sister or teacher to guide or advice them. Imagine the girls with their shoes wrapped in shining gold foil materials. They had headbands, wristbands and belts glowing in autumn shade. They even had a big UFO as props for the presentation with the big V formation. In a solid voice, they were able to show a performance expected from the seniors. It was awesome!

These were just some of the mirthful stories that made Cattleya the “meat of the pie”. They can move and act as one.. They can all be leaders.. They can be good team players.. 