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RP: So tell us, when did you, the circumstances surrounding your being sort of drafted into the teacher corps.

LK: I don't know how I was chosen, I think I was chosen, because I did not apply or volunteer. But I somehow was told to report to the school system and assigned to a teacher, to help the teacher. And I never intended to be a teacher, and it was not a profession that I was interested in, but when they tell you that you're to report to work there, you do. So I did report to work there, and I was assigned to a classroom.

RP: Do you remember the teacher that you worked with?

LK: No. I kind of vaguely remember her face, but I don't remember her name.

RP: And what were your duties as a, kind of an assistant teacher?

LK: Yes, I was like a teacher's assistant, go around and help people correct their papers, see that they were working on what they were supposed to be doing. But the thing is that the first year, in the middle of the term, the teacher resigned. And so school, they had no way of hiring another person, I guess. So they assigned two of us to take over the class for the rest of the year. And so we did. I don't know which subjects I was assigned, but I do remember one thing is that music was one of the things I was assigned to. And we had no instruments or anything, so I would sing a song to the class and they would imitate me. So I remember one of the songs was "Bonnie Lass from Scotland," and I would sing the song to them and they would try to copy what I was singing. That was music lesson. I had no lesson plans, I didn't know any, what a lesson plan was, I don't think.

RP: You got very little training.

LK: I had absolutely no training. I think the most important thing was to keep order in the class.

RP: Can you share with us what the, what the classrooms looked like, how they were equipped?

LK: Well, there were desks and there were books. I mean, I think they were all donated by maybe some agency, but we had desks and books. And pencils and paper, I think, they were all donated because I don't remember people not having any. And like English, they would have an English book, they'd start from a certain page, and that would be our lesson for the day and I would go around to see that everyone was doing their lesson.

RP: And was it the second year when the Caucasian teacher quit?

LK: I think it was the first year.

RP: Then what happened?

LK: Then I think that the second year I got to help with our teacher. But I remember one of the years, again, they didn't have enough teachers. So again another teacher and I were assigned to a class. So I remember one whole year of a class. And some of the students still remember and tease me a lot, because they say, "Well, she used to be my teacher." And, in fact, four or five of them here in Portland, every time I see them they're teasing me that I was their teacher.

RP: Who was the other teacher that you worked with, the other Japanese American teacher?

LK: That I worked with? Her name was Hannah Ikeda, she was a lady from Seattle. And I do remember two or three of the others, I think we all had to work kind of together. And two or three of them from Seattle, I still remember their names. And when I see the picture I recognize them. I think most of them were probably not, they were probably gone by now. The one girl in Portland, Nobi Ochiai, she's passed away, but she worked in the school except I never worked with her, but I worked with the three from Seattle.

RP: How much were you paid?

LK: I was paid a professional salary. It was nineteen dollars for a professional, and sixteen dollars for a laborer. But we were considered professionals, so I got paid nineteen dollars. A month. [Laughs]

RP: Not an hour. Did you have contact with some of the camp staff, the other Caucasian teachers at all?

LK: Yes, uh-huh.

RP: How was the relationship between the Caucasians and...

LK: I think all the teachers were nice people and they really were there to help. And I remember the principal, Mr. Kleindoff, I remember him. And he was very supportive, and they did try to help us as best they could. So I have good memories of the staff that worked there. It was not a big staff, but they were all helpful.

RP: And now, there were two elementary schools at Minidoka. Which one did you work at?

LK: I worked at Stafford, which was in the Portland-Seattle end. Minidoka was, most of the people from Seattle/Tacoma were in one, it was shaped like a, kind of like this way, and most of the Seattle people were this way. Portland people were on this end. I think they filled it up first. The Seattle people were there first, and then as they brought people in they filled in, and so we were kind of on one end. And I was with the Portland-Seattle people. And that was the school next to where the Seattle people lived.

RP: How far was it from your barrack?

LK: Where I lived? See, I lived in 42 and the school was in 34, I think. It was only about six, seven barracks. Not barracks, sections. So I don't know if I rode the convoy to school there to work or walked, but it was walking distance.

RP: You talked about some of the administrators like the principal. Did you socialize with any of the WRA staff at all?

LK: No.

RP: You weren't invited to any functions?

LK: No. I don't remember. I don't remember ever going to a picnic or a lunch or anything, no. They might have, but I don't remember.

RP: And how were the kids that you worked with?

LK: Well, I always say, I learned a very important lesson in teaching, is that you decide early on which students will be the most helpful to you to maintain discipline. So I learned to associate myself, I mean, I made special effort to the most rowdy boys in the class, and made friends with them. And so I think we had a reasonable class. It was not chaos in the class, because these boys -- and I can remember some of their names, too -- but they felt maybe protective of me or sorry for me. But anyhow, they became more friends. Not friends in the sense that I socialized with them or anything, but I kind of picked them out, and so they became very protective of me. And so when the class became really rowdy or something, they would stand up and say, "No, this is not the time to be doing this." So I think that kept my sanity, because the children, they were uprooted from their homes. Their parents were, had a hard time keeping the family together, the children were out playing together all the time. So they became, I think, not as disciplined as they should be. They were more free, in other words, to run around. And so when they came to school, they had a hard time settling down. But I think, I don't remember having a lot of discipline problems in my class.

RP: How many kids would you have in the class?

LK: I think there were maybe about thirty, around thirty.

RP: Were there other challenges that this experience presented to you that you had to deal with?

LK: Yes, yes. I'm sure there were challenges. Because in the end, I decided I did not want to be a teacher. So evidently there were challenges, and it was not a pleasant time for me.

RP: You said you thought you taught fourth grade and sixth grade?

LK: Kindergarten. Those three classes I either taught or helped.

RP: What was the most rewarding and most difficult?

LK: It's all kind of one big...

RP: Mass?

LK: I can't say that the little ones are easier than the older ones. I can't say.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.