Please join us in congratulating the 2024 AATJ Outstanding Teacher Award recipients.
The AATJ Teacher Award recognizes outstanding teachers who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, advocacy, and leadership, both locally and nationally. The awards were presented in-person at the AATJ Awards luncheon at the 2024 ACTFL Convention.
2024 AATJ Outstanding Teacher Award (K-12 category)
Miyuki Johnson (Elkins Pointe Middle School, Roswell, GA)
I am truly honored and deeply grateful to receive the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) Teacher Award for the K-12 level. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the AATJ, my incredible colleagues, and the supportive administration at Elkins Pointe Middle School. I am also immensely grateful to Ms. Jamie Patterson, the World Languages Coordinator of Fulton County Schools, the Georgia Association of Teachers of Japanese, the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta, and the Japan-America Society of Georgia. Your commitment to our students and to the growth of the Japanese program has been a constant source of inspiration and motivation to me.
I would also like to express my appreciation to those who have entrusted me with leadership opportunities; the Japanese curriculum development team with the Georgia Department of Education, the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP), the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers (NCJLT) Board, the National Japanese Exam administration team, to name a few. I truly appreciate the invaluable resources, guidance, and support that have helped me grow as a leader and educator through these organizations.
Over the course of my 27-year teaching career, the last 20 years in middle school have been both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Middle school students are often at a crossroads, seeking to belong and be understood. Engaging middle schoolers requires more than just teaching the language; it requires creating a classroom environment that fosters connection, excitement, and encouragement. Sometimes, a simple positive comment can impact on a student’s day, week, or even their future. I feel I am incredibly fortunate to teach Japanese because it offers a unique opportunity to connect with students on a personal level, often in ways you might not expect with other subjects.
I look forward to continuing this journey and collaborating with the amazing educators across the nation. Thank you again for your encouragement and support.
2024 AATJ Outstanding Teacher Award (Post-secondary category)
Kazuko Suzuki Carlson (University of Vermont)
I am deeply grateful to receive this prestigious award. It is by the grace of God and the support of countless people mentioned below that I am able to receive this distinguished honor today.
First, I would like to thank the AATJ committee for selecting me and the team of faculty for your nomination. I appreciate all the dedicated senseigata who worked tirelessly in the past to promote Japanese education worldwide. I am only one part of the puzzle at this particular time in history. I feel blessed to take part in the exciting endeavor of education and to add another piece of the puzzle to my predecessors’ hard work. I am thankful for the current and future generations of Japanese educators who continue to expand the puzzle as well.
I sincerely appreciate my colleagues and students at the University of Vermont for inspiring me to be a devoted educator. A special shout-out to our outstanding staff at our university’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Your genuine care for student learning, humane values to promote kindness, and commitment to help us become educators in the true sense of the word are absolutely inspirational. I am also energized by our Japanese Program’s vibrant student body who actively engage in educational activities and student-led clubs.
My interest in foreign languages, cultures, and people of the world started at an early age. When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, a teacher from our sister city in California visited our classroom in Japan. She somehow picked me and wanted to speak with me. This magical moment became a turning point in my life. I began to be curious about the world outside of Japan, especially the U.S. I am truly grateful for my forever loving parents, Yoshiro and Toshi, and my supremely caring sister, Masako, and my en no shita no chikaramochi twin brothers, Hironori and Takanori, for allowing me to study in the U.S. and always supporting me.
I express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Osamu Kamada and Dr. Tadashi Sakamoto, my advisors at Nanzan University and mentors to this day, for teaching me to have fun with hilarious jokes and develop a genuine human-to-human relationship while working really hard. I also treasure a tight-knit camaraderie with Dr. Kaburagi and Dr. Chan from Tottori University and Mr. Kajitani from the Tottori Prefectural Government. Together, we turn our work into pure fun. Thank you for valuing my wild ideas and enabling them to become reality for our student learning and enhancement of our sister-state relationship.
Wholeheartedly, I thank the generous educators from various schools in Vermont and Japan for opening up their classrooms for our students to teach during service-learning and career-development projects. I appreciate all the instructors at my language-exchange partner institutions. A special thanks to tech-savvy Professor Yamauchi from Chiba University of Commerce for introducing me to the world of virtual exchange. Moreover, I am thankful for the support from the EF Foundation, the Japan-America Society of Vermont, the Vermont Association of Teachers of Japanese, the Tottori Prefectural Government, the State of Vermont, Tagengo Tadoku, the Japan Foundation, and the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston.
Words fail to express how grateful I am for the unwavering support of my church family. My best friends since high school, Mayumi and Mai, are my constant encouragers. My small group always supports me and shows up in my driveway with meals and sweets when I am too busy or my family is sick. Rev. Jim and Bonnie Bound are basically my (adopted) American parents. Pam Gelineau welcomed me into her home and even paid part of my tuition when I was considering graduate school to become a teacher. To Hilda, Jan and Laurel, Steve and Elga, Magda, Sun Young, my extended family, and so many other friends: thank you always for being there for me and my family.
Lastly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to my family. My husband’s utter devotion to his scholarship and his deep interests in world affairs have inspired me to grow as an educator and to think globally and creatively. My daughter’s kindness and gentleness always uplift me, even after a hard day of work. It can be difficult to balance home and career at times because my passion, interest, and work intersect so closely. Thank you for your grace and love. This award especially belongs to both of you.
