What Happened After I Left Sixth Grade and Mrs. Saiki

 

A little over a year ago I met part of a family new to our church congregation. After some small talk, we made a connection having both lived in Japan. After I mentioned that my dad had been stationed at Yokota Air Force Base, her jaw dropped, and said, “I have to ask if you had a certain teacher…Mrs. Saiki?”

                At the mention of my 6^th grade social studies and reading teacher, Sylvia Saiki, my eyes involuntarily brimmed with happiness. If you have read any of my previous posts about her, you will know how much this woman influenced me. She piqued my curiosity to discover the unknown (especially regarding Egyptology and geography and different peoples and cultures). She sharpened and honed and my love for learning, my curiosity for the mysterious, and my passion for reading. Her requirement to only read Newbery and Caldecott winners stretched me to read genres I normally wouldn’t have as an eleven-year-old nonfiction nut. Looking back on that year, outside of her classes, where I felt like a minor rock star, I only recall a few things. I lost a computer programming contest because I didn’t save my work, and there was a power glitch ten minutes before the end of the timed programming portion. I lost a nomination to represent Mr. Iwanski’s class in the trivia bowl to a popular kid who was about as sharp as the leading edge of a bowling ball. In the gifted and talented class, my paper mâché puppet collapsed on itself and dried funny, so I had to improvise a new character (B.U.M.—Beat Up Man), which truthfully looked hideous. There are other stories that didn’t really do much for my young self-esteem, but those tales are for another day. 

                My newfound acquaintance soon put in contact with my former teacher, and on a nice fall morning, I had a pleasant half-hour phone conversation with Mrs. Saiki. To me, her voice was the same—loving yet firm. While conversing, I felt that same assurance that I had so many years ago sitting in her class—she knew me and accepted me for who I was; she treated me with respect and believed in me. It felt that after so many years, she still knew me, and in that moment I wished that I could be the half teacher she was.

At the end of our talk, Mrs. Saiki asked me for a favor—one that I have started many times but have failed to deliver. She wanted a brief history of what I did from the time I left 6^th grade until the present. Much has happened in 35 years, and the task seemed daunting; however, here it finally is. The summary of my life from 6^th grade until now.

                I started 7^th grade at Yokota High School (7-12) and hated almost every minute of it. I had most of my classes with upper classmen, and my few friends all had different lunch periods than I did. I became even more of a loner.

Halfway through the year, I moved across the globe when my dad was reassigned to RAF Mildenhall, England. I viewed this move as a fresh start and soon made the most of it. I made friends—a few at first, mostly through church, but then I became emboldened by some of the acquaintances I had made in band and NJHS. At Lakenheath High School, I decided to run for student government and run on the track. So I did. I became involved. I played the trumpet. I ran long distances. I played baseball. I started writing! I started to improve my self image.

After my sophomore year, my family returned to the US, to Scott AFB, east of the St. Louis metro area. I attended Belleville east Township High School my junior year, but refused to become just a number in the 2500 or so students there. When we moved into base housing the next year, I moved schools again, spending my senior year at Mascoutah Community High School. And to be honest, back in 1994, I had no idea where I wanted to go to school, so I followed the recommendations of a couple of close friends from church to attend Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.

I declared my major at the junior college to be English, and kept up my pursuits of the humanities: writing, reading, art, music, theatre. I rushed through my Associate’s degree in under two years, and felt pretty accomplished, but I knew there were miles to go before I slept.

My religious convictions, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints influenced my desire to now serve a two-year proselyting mission. I submitted my papers, and was assignment to serve in southern Spain. Over those two years, I learned to love the people and to love the Lord. I learned more about who I was and how I fit into God’s plan for me. Oh, yes, I also acquired a propensity for good food and how to cook it for myself. In short, I learned how to live.

When I returned home in January of 1998 (My parents moved to Utah while I was away.), I knew I had to become more serious about an occupation. So I examined myself and determined what I did well…or at least what I felt I did well. I decided to become an English teacher. I enrolled at nearby Brigham Young University. Shortly thereafter I reconnected with a beautiful young woman I had met at the beginning of my missionary service, Amy Walker; and for brevity’s sake, we were married that July. She was an English teaching major as well, and so we worked together to finally graduate in 2000. Our last semester while I completed my student teaching and Amy completed her year-long teaching internship, we lived on half a teacher’s salary and whatever I scraped together working at a restaurant on the weekends. We were poor but happy.

In February of 2001 Sariah was born with many complications. Zac was born at the end of 2002. Then Ally in 2005, Brooklyn in 2007, and Sam in 2010. All the while I taught English (and a few other things) at Spanish Fork Junior High. After two years of teaching middle school, Amy stayed home to raise the kiddos (and continues to do an amazing job).

While all the teaching happened, I kept busy with professional development, church assignments, and community involvement (to be read “city league coaching”). I earned my M.Ed. in Secondary Education with an emphasis in reading. I picked up a second (almost) full-time job teaching an independent study high school course. After earning my PhD. In Curriculum and Instruction (emphasis in educational leadership), I adjuncted composition courses for Utah Valley University.

Over my 18+ years as a public educator, I worked with 13 student teachers and mentored several other newer educators. While doing this, I realized that even though I loved influencing my students on a daily basis, I might be able to make a bigger difference in the world of education if I shifted careers and became a teacher educator at the university level.

I have now been doing that at Bellevue University since 2018. The kids are older: Sariah is working; Zac is now a missionary; Ally is about to graduate; Brooklyn and Sam won’t stop growing. Amy is now student teaching for her M.A.T. in Elementary Ed in a class of 6^th graders. Life is still good and it keeps getting better.

Some of you know part of this history; some of you played integral part in it. If you read this, you'll know that I love stories, especially personal ones. Among my goals this year, is a pledge to get back to writing snippets of my history--at least one each month. For better or for worse, my stories are going to be shared. If you have any suggestions about holes I need to fill in or adventures that should see the light of day, please leave a comment, and I'll think about it.