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WORKSHOP HELPS MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA TEACHERS BRING WW II NIKKEI EXPERIENCE INTO CLASSROOMS
(Torrance, Calif. – March 25, 2008) – Silver Spring, MD-Educators from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., recently (Feb. 2) became the first in their region to take part in teacher training workshops focused on the World War II experience of Japanese Americans, particularly the Nisei and other minorities who served in the military.
The East Coast participants join more than 1,500 educational professionals who have completed the Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) program that began 10 years ago and in 1998 became part of the California State Curriculum Social Studies Standard.
Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and GFBNEC partnered with the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF) and Japanese American Veterans Association, both based in Washington, D.C., to present the inaugural workshop.
In opening the workshop, Maria L. Trementozzi, Acting Social Studies Supervisor of MCPS, stressed the importance of teaching minority issues.
"Our goal is to convey the value lessons embodied by the Nisei who served the Nation honorably in the face of discrimination," according to GFBNEC President and Chief Executive Officer Christine Sato-Yamazaki.
"Teachers are the key to bringing these unique and inspiring stories to students across America. This workshop offered a great opportunity that has developed into a mutually rewarding collaboration." Sato-Yamazaki said, adding that discussions are already under way to conduct a similar workshop in the coming months.
Education specialists Esther Taira and Mark Elinson facilitated the workshop, examining events that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and mass evacuation of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry. They also discussed the formation of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team as a segregated unit in WWII and explained the contributions of the Nisei who served in the Military Intelligence Service.
Augmenting the discussion was Gerald Yamada, President and Executive Director of NJAMF, who described the NJAMF teachers guide and invited teachers to bring their classes to the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism, located near the US Capitol Building. JAVA Executive Director Terry Shima announced that related publications are available and that veterans and former internees can be made available to speak at local schools.
Some 30,000 Japanese Americans served in the Armed Forces during WW II, including 10,000 with the 100th Battalion-442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe and 6,000 with the MIS in the Asia Pacific Theater. Many of them volunteered for combat duty from the 10 internment camps. For its combat in Italy, France and Germany the 100th-442nd RCT received 7 presidential unit citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses and many other US and foreign awards making it one of the most highly decorated army units for its size and period of combat.
