Tag Archives: Asian American Teachers

NYC teacher Jane Yi garners 2025-2026 Big Apple Award

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Jane Yi

Elementary school teacher Jane Yi of New York City has garnered a 2025-2026 Big Apple Award.  Photo credit: NYC Public Schools

There are many fine examples of outstanding educators working in New York City pubic schools. One of these is Jane Yi, an elementary school teacher from the Bronx. She has garnered a 2025-2026 Big Apple Award from New York City Pubic Schools.

Jane teaches math and science to fifth graders at PS 49, the Willis Avenue School. She has been employed there for the past 21 years. In her classroom, Jane creates a student-centered environment grounded in exploration, where discussion and debate are essential tools for learning. Her approach encourages students to think critically, share their ideas freely, and embrace their mistakes as valuable learning opportunities.

In addition, from 2021 to 2023 Jane served as a Model Teacher and currently served her grade team as the 5th Grade Leader.

The Big Apple Award celebrates teachers who inspire students and model equitable, high-expectations learning for diverse needs in NYC Public Schools. 

to learn more about Chalkboard Champion Jane Yi, click on this link to NYC Big Apple Awards.

Richard Fujiwara: PE teacher and decorated US Army veteran

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Elementary school teacher Richard Fujiwara was also a decorated US Army veteran. (Photo credit: Daily Bulletin)

Many educators who have served in America’s public schools have also served our nation in the Armed Services. One of these is Richard Fujiwara, an elementary teacher who served in the US Army during the VietNam War.

Richard was born in Upland, California, on Dec. 5, 1946. As a youngster he was raised in Chino, where he attended Chino High School. He graduated from the school in 1964. After his graduation, Richard served in VietNam, where he showed exceptional valor, earning a Purple Heart, a Green Medal, and a Bronze Star.

Once he returned to California, Richard attended Cal Poly Pomona, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and his teaching credential. Once he earned his degrees, Richard accepted a position as an elementary physical education teacher at Citrus Elementary in the Upland Unified School District. Later he taught fourth grade at Baldy View Elementary School and at Pepper Tree Elementary. His final assignment before retirement was as an itinerant Physical education teacher at the elementary level.

In his retirement, Richard volunteered countless hours at the USO and travelled, and played golf and tennis. Richard passed away on Nov. 6, 2025. He is interred at Riverside National Cemetery .

Elem teacher Evelyn Kawamoto Konno was an Olympic athlete

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Elementary teacher Evelyn Kawamoto Konno was an exceptional swimmer who once competed in the 1952 Olympics. Photo credit: Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame

There are numerous outstanding classroom teachers who have also become accomplished athletes. One of these is Evelyn Kawamoto Konno, an exceptional swimmer who once competed in the Olympics.

Evelyn was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sept. 17, 1933. She was raised in poverty. Her mother, Sadako, was a single parent. To support the family, Sadako took in laundry and ironing.

As a teenager, Evelyn attended McKinley High School in Honolulu. In 1949, she helped lead the Hawaii Swim Club to the National Amateur Athletic Union Team championship in San Antonio, Texas. Although she was only 15 years old, she set American records in both the 300-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke in that competition.

In 1952, Evelyn represented the United States at the Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland. She garnered bronze medals in the 400-meter individual freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay events. At the same event, she placed second in the 110-yard breaststroke and was on the winning 880-yard relay. In fact, she became the first Japanese American woman to win an Olympic medal. For these accomplishments, in 2000 she was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1956, Evelyn married her fellow Olympian from Hawaii, Ford Konno, who won four medals at the 1952 Games. Several months after their wedding, Ford won a silver medal in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay at the Melbourne Olympic Games. Two daughters were born to the couple.

When she was 30 years old, Evelyn enrolled in courses at the University of Hawaii. After earning her degree, she worked as an elementary school teacher in Kaneohe, a city in Honolulu County. Later she worked in Wailupe, until her retirement from the teaching profession.

Sadly, Evelyn passed away on Jan. 27, 2017 in her native state of Hawaii. She was 83 years old.

Mary Tsukamoto: The teacher who spent WWII in a US internment camp

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Mary Tsukamoto

Japanese American teacher Mary Tsukamoto was incarcerated in a US internment camp during World War II. Photo credit: Mary Tsukamoto Elementary School

At the start of World War II, Mary Tsukamoto was living a quiet life as the wife of a strawberry farmer in a diminuitive Japanese-American community in Florin, Northern California. Then Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941. That event, “a day that will live in infamy,” suddenly turned Mary’s quiet life upside-down.

Mary was one of 120,000 other persons of Japanese descent living on the West Coast. Most of them were American citizens. Mary and the many others in the Japanese American community were forced into a relocation camp by the US government because their loyalty to our country was questioned. Evicted from their home, Mary, her husband, their five-year-old daughter, her elderly in-laws, her teenaged brother and sisters, and other members of her family wound up in a camp in Jerome, Arkansas. There they were incarcerated until authorities were convinced this family of farmers posed no threat to national security.

While detained in the camp, Mary became part of a prisoner-organized effort to provide meaningful educational opportunities for the imprisoned children. Mary taught speech courses for the high school students and English language classes for the elderly. Once she was released from the camp and the war was over, Mary enrolled in college. She completed her degree and became an elementary schoolteacher. In fact, she was one of the first certificated Japanese American teachers in the United States.

This intrepid teacher’s remarkable story is told in her autobiography, We the People, a volume which unfortunately is now out of print. However, with some effort, it can be found through second-hand book sellers or in some libraries (check WorldCat), and it is well worth the hunt. You can read also read her story in my first book, Chalkboard Champions, available through amazon.com.

Dr. Rachael Mahmood name 2025 Illinois State Teacher of the Year

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Elementary school teacher Dr. Rachael Mahmood has been named the 2025 Illinois State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Rachael Mahmood

Many outstanding educators are recognized for their dedication and innovation each year in state-wide Teacher of the Year programs. This year, the state of Illinois has selected Dr. Rachael Mahmood, an elementary teacher from Aurora, Illinois, to receive their state honors.

Rachael teaches fifth graders at Georgetown Elementary School in the Indian Prairie School District. In her classroom, she works diligently to nurture her students’ love for school through identity-affirming curriculum, engaging instructional strategies, and relationships that build a culture of care and inclusion. Her curriculum includes learning through exploration, completing hands-on projects, participating in field trips to museums, students peer-teaching kindergartners, and finding ways students can use their knowledge to improve their own communities. 

During her 20 years as a professional educator, Rachael has chaired equity teams and a diversity advisory parent group, facilitated dialogue circles, delivered professional development, and authored curriculums within her district and across the state. As a Teach Plus Fellow and the Chair of the Educational Task Force for the Muslim Civic Coalition, she leads resource design and professional development designed to accompany new educational laws passed in Illinois. 

In addition to her Teacher of the Year honors, Rachael was recognized as a semi-finalist in the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2020. She also garnered the Distinguished Alumni of Elmhurst University in 2021. Additionally, she earned the Michael Feldman Educational Leadership Award from Elmhurst University and the Rising Star Alumni Award from Benedictine University.

Rachael earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Benedictine University in 2004. She completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Education from Elmhurst University in 2008. She also earned a PhD in Education from Northern Illinois University in 2016.