Category Archives: Education

Teacher Aki Kurose: Civil Rights activist and advocate for minority students

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Elementary school teacher Aki Kurose: Dedicated civil rights activist and ardent activist for minority students.

American history yields numerous examples of inspirational teachers who have devoted their talents to important social causes. These causes include advocating for better conditions for the poor and promoting racial equality. One such teacher is Akiko Kato Kurose, an elementary school teacher from Seattle, Washington. She was a nationally-recognized social activist who worked tirelessly to increase access to education and affordable housing for low-income and minority families.

Akiko, known by the name Aki, was born in Seattle, Washington, on February 11, 1925. She was the third of four children born to Japanese immigrants Harutoshi and Murako Kato. Aki’s father was a railroad station porter, and her mother was the manager of an apartment building. In the Kato home, traditional gender roles were reversed. Aki’s mother studied engineering. She learned how to operate the building’s boiler room and furnace, and served as the building’s handyman. Her father enjoyed baking jelly rolls which he served at social gatherings he organized every Friday evening.

As a young girl, Aki was active in Girl Scouts, and  later in her high school band and drama club. She also attended Japanese language school once a week. OIn December, 1941, the Kato family’s typical American middle-class home life was dramatically altered. That happened when the Empire of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Aki was a high school senior at the time. In February, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which ordered the Kato family and 112,000 other Japanese Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes to be relocated to internment camps throughout the United States. The Katos were sent first to Puyallup Assembly Center at the Washinton fairgrounds, and were eventually consigned to the internment camp set up in Minidoka, Idaho.

Aki completed the requirements for her high school diploma at Minidoka. There the plucky teenager became actively involved with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The AFSC was a Quaker organization which donated books to camp schools and helped college-age internees obtain permission to enroll in universities outside of the camps. Aki was able to gain permission to enroll in the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, but shortly after her arrival there she transferred to nearby LDS Business College. At the conclusion of WWII, the Aki pursued her college education at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. In 1981, she earned a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

After her graduation from Friends University in 1948, Aki married Junelow Kurose, the brother of her best friend. Junelow had been recently discharged from the United States Army. After their marriage, Aki and Junelow settled in Chicago, where her husband’s parents had moved following their release from internment. Junelow was an accomplished electrician, but due to discrimination against Japanese American citizens, he was unable to find work in that field. This was true even though he was a veteran who had been honorably discharged.

Returning to Seattle in 1950, Junelow was eventually hired as a machinist at Boeing. Aki found employment as a secretary for the railroad porter’s union. Influenced by the discrimination she and her husband faced in their search for a home, Aki became involved in the open housing movement in the 1950s. She worked first with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and later, in the 1960s, joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Over the years, the couple enlarged their family to include six children. Aki enrolled her brood in Seattle Freedom School, an offshoot of the Mississippi Freedom Schools established as part of the Civil Rights Movement. When she participated in CORE civil rights marches and anti-war demonstrations, Aki took her children along. She was also active in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the activist branches of the YWCA.

Aki possessed a lifelong passion for education, so she began taking courses in early childhood education and development and devoted her talents to working in preschool programs. In 1965, she collaborated with a group of neighborhood parents to form Washington State’s first Head Start program.

Aki began her career as a professional educator by teaching for Seattle Public Schools through the Head Start program. In 1974, she accepted a job at a local elementary school. Two years later, as part of the city’s move to desegregate its public schools, she transferred from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, an urban, predominantly African-American school, to Laurelhurst Elementary School. Laurelhurst was an affluent, predominately white school located in suburban North Seattle. Because of strong anti-Japanese sentiment, Aki had to work hard to overcome opposition to her transfer there, but she eventually won over the parents. When the first students of color were bused to the campus, Aki worked hard to ease their integration. She also advocated strongly for the adoption of a multi-cultural curriculum for the school.

In the classroom, Aki emphasized collaborative learning and encouraged her students to learn through hands-on experience instead of rote memorization. She taught principals of peaceful co-existence to even the youngest of students, her first graders, telling them, “If you’re not at peace with yourself, with your neighbor, with your community, you can’t really learn very much. We have to get rid of all this garbage, this angry, competitive feeling. Then we’ll all get along.” She received numerous awards for her innovative teaching style.

Over time, Aki became one of the schools most beloved and respected teachers. In 1980 she was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children. In 1985 she was honored as Seattle Teacher of the Year. In 1990 she was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics. Because of her innovative work to integrate peace advocacy with education, she was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Award in 1992. The Seattle Times said of Aki that she had “touched thousands of children, drew parents into the district, inspired many into public service, set an example for many teachers; she personified the best of what happens inside a classroom.”

This talented and dedicated educator retired in 1997 after 25 years of service in Seattle public schools. To honor her, students and parents from Laurelhurst school built and dedicated the Aki Kurose Peace Garden on the school campus. This Chalkboard Champion passed away the following year, on May 24, in Madrona, Washington, following a 16-year battle with cancer. She was 73 years old.

To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this link at Densho Encyclopedia.

Virginia teacher LaToya McGriff inspires with Black History Month lessons

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Although February is over, I want to share just one more story about Black History Month celebrations with you. The story features first grade teacher LaToya McGriff who works at Creekside Elementary School in Suffolk, Virginia.

Every day last month, LaToya dressed up as a different African American trailblazer. Then she shared that individuals important contribution to US history. She started with NASA mathematician Mary Jackson. Mary was profiled in the book and film Hidden Figures, which shared the story of three African American female mathematicians whose efforts helped put men on the moon. LaToya also featured jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, tennis star Arthur Ashe, the first African American man to win the U.S. Open, educator Booker T. Washington, and ballerina Misty Copeland, among others.

LaToya says the practice kept her students curious and asking questions, and she hopes the overall project will give them the confidence to know that, like these important historical figures, they can be great, too!

To learn more, see this short video posted by CBS News on You Tube:

Groton’s Andy Anderson: Varsity Rowing Coach and Spanish teacher

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Varsity Rowing Coach and Spanish teacher Andy Anderson of Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts.

Many excellent educators have earned accolades in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Andy Anderson, a teacher from New York who has been inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame.

Andy was born on February 19, 1954, in Syracruse, New York. As a young man, he fell in love with the sport of rowing when he attended Mount Hermon School. Once he graduated, he enrolled at Trinity College of the United States, where he continued to develop his skills as a rower.

Since 1980, Andy has taught Spanish at the Groton School. Groton is a private boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. There Andy has also directed financial aid, headed the Disciplinary Committee, and participated in other administrative duties. But where Andy really shines is as the varsity coach for both the boys’ and girls’ rowing teams. He coached the girls team for 23 years. During that time, the Groton girls won the Henley Women’s Regatta three times and also earned first place finishes in the National and New England championships. He also coached the US Lightweight Women’s National team for 11 years. During that time, the women garnered three gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the World Rowing Championships. 

In addition to his success as a rowing coach, Andy writes a column for the publication Rowing News. He has also published a best-selling book about rowing entitled the Compleat Dr. Rowing.

To read more about Andy, see this link at Groton.

 

Robert Moses: Math teacher and 1960’s Civil Rights activist

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Math teacher Robert Moses was a legendary figure during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. He was the courageous educator from New York who became an activist during the Civil Rights Movement. He’s best known for organizing the Black voter-registration efforts and the Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. This heroic educator’s revolutionary work, which was not without risk to life and limb, transformed the political power structure of entire communities.

Nearly forty years later, Robert advocated for yet another transformational change: the Algebra Project. Robert asserted that a deficiency in math literacy in poor neighborhoods puts impoverished children at an economic disadvantage.

Radical Equatioins by Robert Parris Moses describes the Civil Rights activist’s work during the 1960’s, and his philosophy about math literacy.

The deficiency makes students unable to compete successfully for jobs in the 21st century. This disenfranchisement, he declared, is as debilitating as lack of personal liberties was prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Robert’s solution was to organize people, community by community, school by school, to overcome the achievement gap. He believed this would give impoverished children the tools they need to claim their share of economic enfranchisement.

Robert described his philosophy in depth in his  book, Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project written with fellow Civil Rights worker Charles E. Cobb, Jr. The volume can be found easily and reasonably-priced on amazon. A fascinating read for anyone who is interested in Moses’s story, either past or present. A chapter about this remarkable teacher is also included in my second book, entitled Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor.  This book is also available on amazon; click on this link to view: Chalkboard Heroes.

Arkansas educator, public servant, and politician John M. Lewellen

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John M. Lewellen is a science teacher who also served his community as a public servant and as a member of the Arkansas State Legislature.

Many fine educators also make a name for themselves in politics. One of these is John M. Lewellen, a science teacher who also served his community as a public servant and as a member of the Arkansas State Legislature.

John was born in Forest City, St. Francis County, Arkansas, on Sept. 16, 1930. As a youngster, he attended Dansby Elementary School and Lincoln High School in his home town. After his high school graduation, John served a four-year stint in the US Air Force, and is recognized as a Korean War Veteran.

Once he earned his honorable discharge, John enrolled at AM&N, the Agricultural Mining and Normal College located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He was the first member of his family to go to college. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture in 1958. Once he earned his degree, John moved to the Altheimer and Hermitage areas, where he accepted a position as a high school teacher. Later he served the school as its principal. “I think his proudest moment was he took five of the outstanding seniors to our alma mater, AM&N, and introduced them to the president and helped them get scholarships,” remembered John’s wife, Wilhelmina Lewellen.

Later, John relocated with his wife and children to Little Rock, Arkansas. There he worked within the state government. He served in positions as a probation officer, a state rehabilitation counselor, and a contractor officer for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. His career there spanned 30 years.

In his later life, John decided to pursue a career in public service. He was elected to the Little Rock City Board in 1991, the Pulaski County Quorum Court in 1996, and the Pulaski County Justice of the Peace for District 6. In 1999, John was elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives, where he served until 2004. He represented the 34th District on the Democratic ticket. During the six years he served in the State House, John co-founded the Democratic Black Caucus, chaired the Children and Youth subcommittee, and worked for growth of businesses owned by minorities and women.

This former educator passed away from a lengthy illness in Little Rock Nov. 25, 2017. He was 87 years old. His remains were interred at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Alexander, Arkansas.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to read his obituary.