Japanese teacher is quite the character

Published 7:58 am Friday, February 29, 2008

The curriculum includes 46 alphabets, three ways of writing and more than 200 Chinese characters, but Shorecrest’s new Japanese teacher, Sachiko Smith, insists that taking her Japanese class involves more than just learning the language.

Smith, born and raised in Osaka, Japan, came to the U.S. to attend the University of Washington, where she met her future husband with whom she has raised a family with.

Smith returns to Osaka annually to visit her family, but since becoming Shorecrest’s new Japanese teacher she plans to take a few new friends on the next trip.

“We’re going to be doing an exchange program with Higashi Sumiyoshi High School in Osaka, Japan,” Smith said.

The program will bring Shorecrest students to Japan for 10 days. Diversity will be emphasized during the exchange program, she said.

And Smith said Japan can use the diversity.

“I think Japan realizes that (they) need more than just Japanese in the land,” Smith said.

The class will also be venturing to Himeji, which is the site for the historic Himeji Castle, where part of “The Last Samurai” was filmed, Smith said.

“When you use Japanese, you have to somehow carry on the spirit of Japanese,” she said. “I don’t want them to be a Japanese linguist. I want them to be immersed into the Japanese culture.”

Along with the exchange program Smith is initiating this year, she also hopes to get her classes involved with Japanese culture in the community.

“(I plan to) bring more Japanese community into the classroom and bring my students into the Japanese community in Seattle area,” Smith said.

And cultural experience is something Smith said needs to be emphasized. The ritual of bowing, for example, as a sign of respect when one greets another, is fundamental to cultural understanding, Smith said.

“Kids when they hear Japan, they know video games, soy sauce, teriyaki, sushi, but it’s more than that,” Smith said.

Smith hopes to broaden her students’ understanding of Japanese culture.

“I’m grateful to share culture with students who show interest,” Smith said.

Before taking over the Japanese teacher position, Smith volunteered for Shorecrest High School as a tutor and assistant to former Japanese teacher Kelie Spamm.

Spamm, who taught at Shorecrest for eight years, left her teaching position after giving birth to twin boys. Smith finished the remainder of the year for Spamm.

“When she left it seemed natural for her to ask me to teach, so I was happy to do that,” Smith said. “She has been a coach and mentor to me.”

“She’s amazing. She’s doing a good job — putting in tons of extra hours,” Spamm said. “The students love her. She puts her whole heart into it — I couldn’t ask for a better person to fill the job.”

Smith said Shorecrest has been a comfortable place for her to teach up to this point.

“The staff here at Shorecrest are so supportive. Very kind and very informative,” Smith said.

And Smith’s relationship to the school is also rooted in her family. Her daughter is a sophomore at the school and will be enrolled in third-year Japanese with her mother this year. Also, her son and husband both graduated from Shorecrest.

“When (my son) was a baby we were singing the Highlander fight song,” Smith said.