Marlon Meyer
Northwest Asia Weekly
Aleyna Yamaguchi speaks Japanese with her grandmother (Photo by Mahlon Meyer)
Directly below the photo of him in military uniform holding an automatic weapon is a caption of his service in South Korea “circa 1994.” These and other posts on Facebook have sparked speculation among Japanese-American community leaders about why a high school principal with exposure to Asia would end a very popular Japanese language program.
Teacher Pomeranian
Principal Thomas Caudle, who has a Facebook page, came to Lindbergh High School two years ago and met arguably its most popular teacher, whom her students call Hiromi Sensei (her full name is Hiromi Weir).
What happened next is not entirely clear, but the only remaining Japanese language classes in the Renton School District were reportedly put on hold, only to resume after protests from students, parents and Japanese-American groups.
The emerging details appear to outline a dark and frustrating story around school districts as they seek to re-establish themselves after emerging from years of dark times through remote learning and COVID policies.
Caudle did not respond to multiple emails for this story, nor did the school board, superintendent or associate superintendent.
In the end, a spokesman for the region said it was just a “rumour” that the scheme would be cut.
“Japanese classes will continue. There are no plans to cut the program now or in the future,” said Randy Matheson, executive director of community relations for the Renton School District.
different history
According to Weir, who taught Japanese at Lindbergh for 14 years, Caudle told her he planned to cut it and replace it with American Sign Language (ASL), despite the fact that each teacher showed more interest in Japanese than any other language class.
Matheson said Caudle was only “inquiring” about ASL because it allowed students to “take credit for two courses at the same time”.
He did not provide clarification on which plans. Students must complete two years of foreign language study at a high school in Washington State.
However, after Corder told her the show was canceled, she asked him why, according to Will.
Weir had originally planned to retire before the pandemic, but continued to lead the program through tough times and ensured it continued to be as popular as ever — so it would be well-placed to be mentored by new teachers over and over.
As of this month, 190 students have expressed a desire to take a course she teaches, more than 109 students in French and 350 in Spanish — 175 teachers each.
“It’s not just a full-time job,” Will said.
So when she told HR during spring break (the first week of April) that she planned to retire in the coming year, she expected the number of interested students, not to mention the continued popularity of the program, to ensure its Survive.
The following Monday, she is meeting with the vice-principal to discuss the curriculum.
“The vice-principal said, ‘Congratulations, Pomeranian, you’re retiring,’ and then she told me the principal wanted to know if I would be interested in coming back to teach part-time next year,” Will said.
The proposal was made to help students who completed their first year of Japanese to complete their second year of study. There will be no new students and the entire program will be canceled, Will said.
“When I saw him the next day, I asked him, ‘How can you give up on my plans?’ He said, ‘I don’t have to tell you,'” she said.
While dealing with Cowdell, who joined the school two years ago, she discovered the need for union representation and vowed never to meet him alone.
After hearing her show would be canceled, Will said she was shocked and didn’t know what to do. But she ended up reaching out to some organizations that regularly support the district with Japanese language programs, such as the Japan-American Association of Washington State (JASSW), the Japanese Consulate, and the Washington Teachers Association Japanese (WATJ).
community response
Dale Watanabe, executive director of JASSW, said the loss of the course would prevent the recovery of the language and culture that assimilation forces stripped away.
“Many of our members are either Japanese companies doing business in Washington or American companies doing business in Japan. Language skills broaden job opportunities. Many Japanese Americans of my generation do not speak Japanese, but hopefully we will. Said. Lindbergh should cherish the very popular Japanese language program that Hiromi Sensei built,” he said.
One of his daughters was able to learn Japanese in Tacoma, while another in another school district learned French because it wasn’t offered.
Renton has a 50-year history of cultural exchange with Japan, said Chris Johnson, president of the Renton-Nishiwaki Sister Cities Association.
“Language programs in our middle and high school curriculum prepare thousands of students for life in the global community we now live in,” he said in an email. “Losing a language program like this would be severe. Influences our ability to work with Japan in the future, one of Washington State’s largest trading partners.”
students
It wasn’t until her former student heard that the program might end that something really changed.
Former student Aleyna Yamaguchi, 29, organized a petition and wrote to the board, superintendent and deputy superintendent, and encouraged others to do the same. Other students spoke out for the article, shocked and saddened by the apparent end of the beloved project that changed their lives (as with community groups, they were interviewed before Renton announced that the project would continue).
It is unclear whether their outcry, along with Yamaguchi’s campaign and parents’ disappointment, led to the resumption of the program.
But their collective response to the possible cuts suggests that a single language curriculum and a single teacher could have a profound impact on an entire generation of students.
For Yamaguchi, who learned Japanese from Weir a decade ago, the fluency has enabled her to communicate with her 92-year-old grandmother, who has almost fully recovered Japanese since developing Alzheimer’s.
On a recent weekend afternoon, Yamaguchi talked for an hour with the gray-haired old woman, holding a scrapbook of photos from her trip to Japan with Will, and offering the old woman a treat.
Other students attribute their career success to the program and Weir’s development.
Inspired by Weir, Orm Wei, 28, applied to Nagoya University instead of Washington University, where he studied mechanical engineering. He now designs for extreme weather and emissions testing for the automotive industry.
“During the time I was there, everything was mundane, everything had to be done somehow,” he said. “I think, in her class, things started.”
Jenna Louie, 24, was nominated by Weir for a scholarship to visit Japan and to work on rebuilding the Tohoku region after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region in 2011.
In Japan, she came into contact with a carpenter who lost her child in the floods that followed. As part of his return to life, he built a playground called “Rainbow Bridge”.
Louie was inspired to study civil engineering at the University of Washington (UW) and then graduate school for structural engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. She now works for a company that builds schools, offices, residential and commercial buildings.
Other students commented at the bottom of the petition that their careers at Amazon or their jobs as Japanese interpreters were credited to Will’s teaching.
Weir herself says some of her students went on to work for companies like Honda USA, Uwajimaya and even Genki Sushi. Some have used their Japanese during their military careers in Japan, others have been preaching.
“A few more kids came back to see me with their wives,” she said.
But in the few interviews and classroom observations that were conducted, it became clear that Weir was teaching more than just language skills.
“She made me a better person,” Yamaguchi said. “She was like our second mother, very concerned about our lives.”
“She’s an exception — I don’t know of another high school teacher who everyone loved her,” Louie said.
Yamaguchi also said that there is something about the Japanese language and culture itself that encourages young people to exist in different ways.
“In this culture, it’s very important to listen to other people and understand other people’s things,” she said.
trend?
WATJ said Japanese language classes in the state have decreased.
“In western Washington, where most WATJ member teachers live and teach, it appears that more Japanese language classes have been canceled, not increased, recently. Nationwide, Japanese language classes have been canceled rather than increased,” WATJ President Kei Tsukamaki said in an email. And the number of students also seems to be increasing, which is also true.
However, Tsukamaki said: “Based on my recent communication, I know that the Japanese language classes at Lindbergh High School will not stop at this time.”
For her part, Weir noted that multiple schools in the area have already cancelled Japanese language classes.
But she and community groups say it’s not because of a lack of teachers.
“I know there are many young, qualified Japanese teachers who can succeed her when she retires,” Watanabe said.
Weir speculates that one reason for the decline in Japanese programs has to do with the Chinese government’s willingness to fund Chinese language courses over the past decade.
At her school, it’s still not entirely clear what happened.
The district did not answer questions about budget cuts, school politics or the principal’s personal preference.
Weir is also unsure whether the current guarantees can be relied on long-term.
She wants a one-on-one conversation with a supervisor.
To view the petition to save the program, please visit: https://www.change.org/p/save-lindbergh-s-japanese-language-program
Mahlon can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
