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EK: And moving forward, Paul, this one is, this is a question for you. So you answered this with the earlier question. But if you wanted to add more to it, please feel free to do so. But your mother, Aki, was someone who broke barriers within the education system and practiced unlimited inclusivity and equity. And so would you say that your mom had a large impact on you in becoming a teacher? And additionally, after that, if you don't mind also, speaking about how the naming of the Seattle middle school in your mother's honor came to be?

PK: So absolutely had... I can't even measure how much influence that had on me becoming a teacher. I know hearing and seeing the difference that she made in people's lives, and also the people whose lives she made a difference in, working with programs like Project Head Start. And even after she was part of the desegregation process in the Seattle Public Schools, she was transferred to a North Seattle elementary school from Martin Luther King Elementary School in the Central District. Because not only did they bus some of us kids, but then later they transferred faculty and staff of color as well. So she certainly influenced, just again, seeing the difference that she was able to make. And then as I started finding, I guess, kind of being out there, going to school, getting my education and then seeing these things, opportunities come up, just was kind of, naturally, I guess, gravitated toward doing those types of things. But not only the choice of becoming an educator, but also I think a lot about who I am as an educator. I mean, someone... there's that quote that's on that rock down near, in the Seattle Center Peace Garden, and I always tell people, I thought, when I first saw the quote, I thought, "Oh, there she goes, my mom talking about peace again." And, but it's much deeper than me, and it's much deeper than that, because she says, "You don't have peace within yourself, learning cannot take place." And I just, after I went over there and she was talking about peace again, I thought more about it, and how so many kids in our education system, and me included.

And there were times where there was so much tension in the classroom. I mentioned that U.S. History experience that I had at Lakeside. I wasn't doing much learning in that class, because I was sitting there too angry about the stuff that was being said, and so letting my students know that they didn't have to sit there being angry, they could let me know. And it was important for me to know if I had done or said something, or even if somebody else in my classroom had done or said something that made them feel... not having peace within themselves, right, feel tension, feel, anger, feel hurt. That that was important, that as a classroom teacher, that I made my classroom a place where they wouldn't have to swallow that, as so many of us have had to. And not just in the classroom, but in the workplace as well. The other thing... so there's that rock and then there's also stories. And there's one story that she shared with me that always, I've come back to so many times, both as a teacher and then in my short experience as a Seattle Public Schools assistant principal. I have one of the shortest assistant principal careers in history of Seattle Public Schools. [Laughs] But the story is, when she was at Laurelhurst, there were some teachers who would put kids out in the hall, like you're misbehaving, and they put them out the hallway. My mom said she would see these kids out in the hallway and she would bring them into her classroom. And she said it didn't matter what grade they were in, they would learn more being in her classroom than being out in the hallway by themselves. And it's much deeper than that, that they would just learn more, being in her classroom in terms of whatever academic experience she had taking place in that classroom, they learn more, probably the most important thing was that they learned that here's this teacher who really cared about them. And so often... and she shared that you don't have to guess who those kids were that were being disproportionately put out in the hallway out at Laurelhurst. Because just like they transferred her there, they also bussed kids in. And so that always was kind of got something that guided me, I guess. I tell people, look, I can't do some of these things because I got somebody watching me, but it wasn't so much watching me, but in a way, right? I mean, kind of leading me.

And so when I was that assistant principal at Meany Middle School, where I attended junior high school before I got bussed, you probably know what most assistant principals are known for doing ,right? Most assistant principals in Seattle Public Schools, their primary role is to kick kids out of school or to discipline kids. And one thing that... and I would get these kids sent to me, and I would try and work with them instead of saying, "I'm going to suspend you if you don't behave." And so kids were getting in trouble in their classrooms, and then they were saying they wanted to go see Mr. Kurose. And the principal I was working under said these teachers are getting angry because these kids are supposed to be afraid of being sent to you, and these kids are saying they want to go talk to you. And I said -- this is back when I was forty-something, I said, "I'm forty-something years old. Last thing I want is some little kids to be afraid of me." I said, "that's kind of sick." And then they gave me a list of twenty-seven names for the end of that school year. Twenty-six were kids of color, and the one white kid was a foster child. And they said if they sent them down to me one more time, they wanted them out for the rest of the year. I went to the superintendent, Olchefske at that time, and said I basically needed to do the job I was hired to do. And so I ended up not having that job after that. I went back to the classroom. But again, I mean, I shared that one little story about how my mom would work with those kids, and I think things like that just stuck with me, right? And I think the most important part of it, it stuck with me because it was the right thing to do if you truly cared about those kids that you were working with, if you wanted to help those children. And putting kids out just isn't about helping those kids in our schools. And so, yeah, both her influence on me in becoming a teacher, but also who I am as an educator. And I don't know if I forgot the rest of your question, or if that was the entire thing.

EK: Yeah, I have another part. But before that, I just wanted to say, I keep saying thanks, but I genuinely mean it. In the sense that we're, even though I didn't get to hear from your mother herself as a teacher, but just hearing from you, and you as a teacher as well and the values you carry and the practices that you have achieved, just thank you. There's definitely not enough teachers like you within, I think, not only just Seattle, but within just the entirety of this world. And I know that Kenji is on his way to becoming a teacher, too, so I can only imagine how great of a teacher Kenji is going to be. I like really hope one day, I don't know what it will -- if it's math, I mean, it's one of my worst subjects. But I actually hope to take a class from Kenji one day. I wanted to say, genuinely, thank you, and that, like I said, there needs to be more teachers like you within our education system. And I think that it's really telling within our education system too how there is a lack of teachers like you, so thank you.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.