Alice Sasaki (center) with some of her former students from 1970-71.
By J.K. YAMAMOTO
A year ago, I was part of a group of Robert E. Peary Junior High School alumni who had a reunion with our seventh-grade English teacher, Alice Sasaki, at her home in Torrance.
We started attending what is now known as Peary Middle School in 1970 and graduated in 1973. The mostly Japanese American group had many of the same classes at Peary and at Gardena High School (Class of 1976) because we had been classified as “gifted.” At the get-together, we marveled at the fact that 52 years had passed since Mrs. Sasaki was our teacher.
My memories of the class are a little hazy, but I remember being seated in alphabetical order along with others at the far end of the alphabet. One of the subjects we read about was Greek mythology.
One thing I distinctly remember is having to memorize the “l(fā)inking verbs,” including is, am, are, was, were, be, beingand been.We would recite the words out loud repeatedly. I told Mrs. Sasaki that I had used that knowledge in my job at The Rafu Shimpo,reminding my co-workers that not only action verbs but also verbs like “be” and “is” need to be capitalized in headlines and titles of books, movies, etc.
Perhaps the most notable member of our group is Terry Tang, who this year became executive editor of The Los Angeles Times— the first female editor in the paper’s 142-year history. We had another gathering earlier this year (which Mrs. Sasaki was unable to attend) to celebrate that achievement. Note: There is also an Associated Press reporter with the same name.
Alice Sasaki taught at Peary Junior High School (now Peary Middle School) from 1959 to 1996.
Also present was Mary Ann Takemoto, who retired in 2021 after serving in various leadership positions at CSU Long Beach, including director of Counseling and Psychological Services. She commented, “We were fortunate to have many outstanding teachers at Peary Junior High and Gardena High School, but Mrs. Alice Sasaki was truly one of the best and most impactful. Over 50 years have passed since we took her seventh-grade English class, but we fondly remember how she motivated us and made learning fun.
“Mrs. Sasaki was a great role model and one of only a few Japanese American teachers we had. Our classmates went on to successful careers as attorneys, journalists, scientists, and educators, and we are aware that our teachers played an important role in setting us on the right path. Reuniting with Mrs. Sasaki and having an opportunity to express our gratitude and appreciation was a wonderful and special event.”
Others who attended include Doug Tanji, Bill Cooper, Greg Sasaki, Phebe (Nishimoto) Arlen, Shari (Yamamoto) Chang, and Helen Hayase.
I was saddened to learn that Mrs. Sasaki’s husband Bob, whom I had never met, had passed away in 2020 at the age of 87. In the living room there was a small shrine honoring his memory. In their 61+ years of marriage, the couple traveled across the U.S. and to over 70 countries, and particularly enjoyed their African safaris. Survivors include sons Glenn and Dean, daughter Kim, their spouses, and nine grandchildren. The family still travels extensively.
“Having so many of you ‘oldsters’ joining me in reliving those long-ago days was heartwarming,” Mrs. Sasaki wrote to me. “… Nothing old, retired teachers appreciate more than tributes from those with whom she enjoyed working. When students were as eager to learn as were you and your classmates, teaching was a joy!”
A native of Hawaii like her husband, Alice Natsuko Yogi Sasaki attended Haiku Elementary School (1941-1950), Maui High School (1950-1954), and San Diego State University, where she majored in social science and English and graduated in 1958, the year I and many of my classmates were born.
From 1958 to 1959, she taught English and P.E. at elementary and high schools in Hana, a two-hour drive from the “other” side of Maui. “I loved this assignment, learned much from the kids and those who’d lived in this community,” she recalled.
Mrs. Sasaki taught at Peary from 1959 to 1996, a tenure of 37 years. This experience “brought me to the most rewarding years of educating young people.”
Nowadays, she said in her note, “I try to remain active by taking classes, volunteering, participating in church and senior activities, walking three times daily with my dog, line dancing, taking a 95-year-old dementia senior to lunch every week, and many other activities, including going to Las Vegas at least three or four times yearly.”
She certainly hasn’t slowed down, and is more active in her late 80s than I am in my 60s. Despite the passage of more than a half-century, I still think of her as a mentor and a role model.