The following stories were inspired by our lessons and submitted by your classmates for your reading pleasure. Please enjoy.

My first year of teaching began when I Interviewed at the Hawaii Department of Education in downtown Honolulu shortly after arriving on Oahu. My husband had been recently assigned to Hickam Air Force Base. I had sent my application, transcripts and college certification before leaving Illinois, where I had received my BS in Elementary Education.

Stanley Igawa was the principal interviewing that day for a 5th-6th grade combination and a 1st-2nd combination at Ewa School. For some reason, why I am not sure as I had done my student teaching in 3rd grade, he thought I’d do best in the older combination class. It was possibly because I had just driven cross-country from New Jersey to California, and the 5th grade curriculum included U.S. History and Geography.

My first interview went very well, except for one major faux pas made by this 24-year-old naive teacher applicant, new to the island culture. Mr. Igawa described Ewa Elementary School as being in a company town populated by the children of the sugar plantation workers, most of whom were of Japanese and Filipino descent. They would be “different from some other classes on the island.”

I responded in my most naive, unworldly words, “Mr. Igawa, I can teach American children anytime.”

His response to me was, “Mrs. McCracken, these ARE American children. Hawaii is a state!” Gulp! I was sure I had blown the interview.

Mr. Igawa then asked where we were living. I told him we had just arrived and were still in temporary lodging. He wanted me to drive out to the school to see it, not making any kind of job offer or commitment.

My husband drove me out to Ewa in our “rent-a-wreck” (our car was being shipped from California). We were met curbside by Mr. Igawa’s secretary. She greeted us warmly and referred to me as “the new teacher.” As she led me to “MY classroom,” I informed her that I had not yet been offered the job.

Her reply, “Oh, yes you have, Sweetheart!” I guess secretaries have more power than I thought, as she not only offered me the job, she offered us a rental home she had available in nearby Ewa Beach!

We drove over to see the rental home, learned that my husband could ride a barge across the mouth of Pearl Harbor to Hickman AFB from Iroquois Point Naval Housing, and that we would be able to live with one car easily. And, we liked the rental!

Things moved quickly from there. We enjoyed our next few weeks living in a Beachwalk condo in Waikiki, taking in the sights and sun while waiting for our household goods to arrive from the Mainland and for school to start. This vacation was one of the nicer perks offered service personnel from Uncle Sam.

Hawaii in 1968 was a mixed blessing. It was as beautiful as ever and gave us so many special joys. But it was also a time of war. There were reminders on every corner as we watched R&R servicemen and women reuniting with loved ones for a few short days before having to return to duty back in the war zones. We never forgot how fortunate we were to be called to Oahu to serve our country.

Teachers reported for inservice meetings in late August. It was then that I learned that Mr. Igawa had second thoughts about giving this “green” novice teacher from the Mainland a combination class of 5th and 6th graders from Ewa. My stomach stopped churning as much when he decided to give me a straight 5th grade with 25 students. My luck held out even more as he kept the original 20 “independent workers” assigned to the combination class and filled in with a few students already assigned to other 5th-grade classes. It was a beautiful class and one I’ll never forget.

I was given the keys to my classroom bordering a sugar cane field. The first thing I noticed was a very large spider scurrying across the classroom floor. I began chasing the spider with a broom. Much to my surprise, thousands of teeny baby spiders burst forth, covering the entire floor! Not knowing if these spiders were harmful or not, I closed the classroom door and went to seek some guidance. I was assured that cane spiders were harmless and sent back to my room to deal with them!

In addition to sweeping out the army of baby spiders, I also had to clean up the classroom that had been vacated by the previous teacher and class shortly after the end-of-the-year party in June. Paper cups, napkins, candy wrappers, cookie crumbs, etc., etc., etc. were everywhere. I had just learned that Ewa School did not provide custodial services above the third grade! I greatly appreciated custodial staff in all my following teaching assignments, believe me!

Hawaii did not provide specialist teachers at that time. In addition to teaching reading, writing, math, social studies and science, I was also expected to teach art, music, PE, and sex education (more about that later). I was certainly challenged but also greatly supported by my fifth-grade team of teachers.

It was in those first few days that I also developed a special friendship with Carolyn Baldwin, one of two other haole teachers. Carolyn taught the 6th-grade class which included my overflow students. She had already taught a few years back home in Michigan so was able to lead me through some “beginning teacher terrors.” We still correspond and have had the chance to meet a few times over the years. Carolyn spent many years in the Hawaiian School System, moving to Honolulu after several years at Ewa. She retired after 30 years of service and continues to live in “paradise. (Carolyn in also my daughter Kristin’s godmother, which has kept us tethered over the years. It was fun for Kristin and Carolyn to finally meet again after MANY years when our family returned to Hawaii for a “Mele Kalikimaka” in the early ’90s.)

Getting back to “very firsts,” I remember my very first day, my very first hour and my very first roll call of students’ names. There I was standing in front of my class of 25 very beautiful Asian children with very beautiful Asian names. And I was about to butcher their pronunciations! I began with Stanley Abe, pronounced” Ah-Bay.” Of course, I said Abe, like our former president. The dear children were quick to correct me. And then I worked my way down the list with Dawn Amano, Mary Apostadiro, Randal Nagatani, Phyllis Ishii, Stephanie Guchi, Estrellita Simpliciano, Kyle Halmos, Rubin Villanueva, John Watts and so many others! (It is interesting that I recall very few of the names of my last classes taught in Seattle in 2001 but remember so many of these very special names in my very first class in 1968-69!)

My first teacher evaluation from Principal Igawa was a most favorable one, but with one exception. I had a downgrade for having “wet mops in the closet.” Now, teacher colleges required several useless courses, but I have to say they failed to teach me proper custodial skills. I quickly learned to have the children “dry” the mops outside after cleaning our classroom floors. Principal Igawa did have some second thoughts a few weeks later and rewrote the permanent evaluation. Fortunately, this shortcoming did not follow me nor keep me from being gainfully employed by many other school districts in later years.

Christmas was a special time in the Islands, especially our first: the music, the festivities, the special ornaments, Santa on a surfboard, the flowers and the warmth. It was also our first Christmas spent away from our families. It was a bit lonely, so we decided to invite my class of twenty-five 5th-graders to our home for a “make-your-own-sundae” party. They ALL arrived after being dropped off by their parents.

We lived in a small home filled with standard U.S. Government furnishings. After removing their shoes outside, they were wide-eyed and smiling, being in a haole teacher’s home. Ewa, where they lived, was a company town run by C&H Sugar. They were impressed with our home, modest especially compared to many other homes on the islands. It was quite an event. There was dancing, singing and teasing that went on that evening. That party remains a very special memory of my very first teaching experience. We had reels of super-8 movie films that, unfortunately, did not make one of the final cuts of our 11 more moves.

February was a special time at Ewa School as they celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday. On the grounds of the school, there is an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of young Lincoln, the frontiersman, wielding an ax. The statue was the gift of Katherine Burke, a former principal at Ewa School, and was unveiled in 1944.

To celebrate this special president, the Royal Hawaiian Band performed a concert, along with the students, on the school grounds by the statue. There was also an essay contest for all 5th-graders to write about this former president. Local dignitaries also shared some inspiring thoughts on this day. It was quite memorable.

I was also quite pleased to see the day end. As the new teacher at the school, I had been named co-chairman of the event and leader of the essay contest. There was a lot of work involved, which stretched this new teacher even more. My mother was visiting from the mainland, and while pleased to be able to enjoy the program. She was also pleased to be able to celebrate with me its conclusion.

Another memorable experience while teaching 5th grade at Ewa School was our field trip to the Honolulu Museum of Art. We had prepared lessons prior and enjoyed a special Light and Art Show. I learned that several of the students had not been to Honolulu before, so this was an extra treat for them. The morning visit to the museum went well and the children were impressed.

Following our museum experience, we headed over to the Honolulu Zoo to enjoy our picnic lunches. While we three teachers and some parent chaperones were enjoying our meals, the children who had finished were able to wonder around the animal cages nearby. It was then that we heard screams of excited children as several rushed back to the adults to describe what they had just witnessed. While observing the gorilla cage, they watched a gorilla reach its arm out of the cage and grab a pigeon that was rambling on the ground. The gorilla brought the pigeon inside and bit off its head. He then placed the pigeon back on the ground where it circled a few times before falling over dead! Phew!!

Of course, the most memorable take-away from this long-planned field trip was the gorilla-pigeon encounter. We read about this in journals and saw graphic illustrations for days to come!

Springtime of my first year of teaching required that I teach a co-ed course in “Family Life and Sex Education.” This was a new 5th-grade program that used a several weeks-long educational TV series from Stanford University. There were pre-lesson questions for discussion, followed by a 10-minute TV presentation, followed by post-lesson follow-up questions. This whole program caused quite a stir in 1969 in the conservative state of Hawaii. Parents were picketing the DOE and getting court injunctions against showing these films in the classrooms. Compromises were made, giving parents several pre-viewing options on evenings prior to classroom viewing. This gave parents an opportunity to initiate discussions at home using the introduced subject matter or to have their children opt out of the classroom viewing and discussions. Only one of my girls needed to be excused because of parental concerns—and she was not the daughter of the Ewa pastor from the church located next to the school.

The first 10 lessons dealt primarily with interpersonal family relations. They dealt with jealousy, anger, sibling rivalry, etc.—important but benign subject matter.

The final four lessons got to the “nitty-gritty.” The first lesson presented the “Female,” using a diagram of a 10-year-old girl. Discussion included ovaries, eggs, menstrual cycles, etc. The second lesson did the same for the “Male,” again using a diagram of a 10-year-old boy. (The use of a long sweater sleeve to describe circumcision taught me something new!)

The next two lessons were to deal with “A New Life.” It was in these lessons that sperm, eggs, embryos, birth, etc., were explained. These classes were co-ed back then, usually not the case today. As you might imagine, there was much interest in this subject, especially in 1969 when the children were not exposed to the sex topics covered (or uncovered) on TV today.

To avoid embarrassment, teachers were to pass out paper for children to write down any questions they might have. After answering some simple, straightforward questions, I asked if there were any more. One of my brightest girls (I can still see her raising her hand) asked, “Mrs. McCracken, I understand about the egg and the sperm getting together to begin the embryo, but I just don’t understand how the sperm gets through the clothes.”

I took a deep breath, uttered a silent prayer for help not to crack a smile, as this serious inquiry deserved a serious reply. I began my reply, “Good question. A husband and a wife (interjecting my morals even then) love each other so much and want to be as close to each other as possible. Sometimes they just don’t wear clothes.” The class erupted in, “Yuck!” And, “Oh, no!” Remember, this was 1969 in a very small town on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. These children were not as worldly nor as sophisticated as many 5th-graders are today. I still smile when I think of her asking that question today.

It was the following week that Ewa School had an outbreak of German measles. This was not good news, especially for me, as I had just learned I was pregnant with our first daughter. German measles is a known cause of birth defects, and my obstetrician required that I stay home from school for two weeks to avoid possible exposure and sickness.

My students were informed why I was missing school and were very concerned.

My first morning back, while on playground duty, I was approached by my “Special Questioner.” She leaned in close to me, shifted her eyes around to make sure no one was listening and stated, “Well, the sperm got with the egg, did it?” To this day, I remember and share this story whenever I have a chance. The innocence and naïveté are so sweet.

Parent conferencing was a new experience for me also. We did not have student release days as many schools offer today for conferencing. Rather, we dismissed students 2 hours early for several days to accommodate meeting with the parents. I remember one day feeling particularly wilted (and I was only 25!). I was not too worried about my appearance for I only had one conference to go, and it was a mother of my student with 16 siblings. Surely her mother wouldn’t notice my droop and fatigue. Then, in walks a stunning Filipino woman with perfectly coiffed hair and a serenity that continues to impress me today. I learned that day never to stereotype anyone, for any reason!

May First in Hawaii is also known as Lei Day. It also happens to be my birthday. My students had heard that this was so and brought me beautiful flower leis to help me celebrate. There were plumeria, tuber roses and many other sweet-smelling flora. Now, being in the first trimester of my pregnancy, these wonderful scents had a different effect. I made it through the day wearing as many of the leis as I could without losing my breakfast, but it was a challenge. Thankfully, I moved past this experience and still love leis to this day. I will always remember that “special” birthday.

The school year ended and so did my 5th-grade teaching position. While my daughter was not due until December, school policy at the time did not allow “obviously” pregnant teachers to continue in the classroom. I was not invited back for the fall... which was fine. I did return in the spring of 1971 to finish out the school year for a 3-2 combination class after their teacher resigned.

I have been collecting these stories from my memory for a while now. Touching base with Dawn motivated me to put them into a writing document that can be shared. It was such a special year. I would like to share with anyone who might be interested.

Karen McCracken