The newest Japanese teacher at FVHS is also a proud former Baron.
Sachi Aso and her family – consisting of her parents and her younger sister – emigrated from Japan while she was still in high school. After adjusting to Fountain Valley life and learning fluent English, Aso graduated and then attended Orange Coast College. From there, she transferred to University of California, San Diego as a Management Science major. She later earned her teaching credential at California State University, Long Beach.
Aso was inspired by Ms. Tanaka, her former Japanese teacher. Although she loved Ms. Tanaka’s class (she thought it was “すごく楽しかった,“or “very fun”), she didn’t realize until after graduating from UCSD that she wanted to become a teacher. She then began teaching Japanese on Saturdays at a weekend Japanese school, and student taught at FVHS as well.
As she teaches, she flits around the room like a restless butterfly, firing off question after question. She wants to make sure that her students fix their mistakes and learn from them. She loves teaching because she’s able to hear different responses from her students and witness their growth in education.
“On the first day in Japanese 1, [the students] didn’t know any Japanese,” said Aso. “After only a week, they already knew how to count numbers and such.”
Aso’s most rewarding moment as a teacher occurred when one of her students improved her work ethic. The student never completed her homework, but after realizing how much her teacher cared, the student began trying harder in class. To Aso, that was one of her many “’Yes!’ moments.”
Attending FVHS and then later returning as a teacher gave Aso a wake-up call: she realized that some of the teachers who had intimidated her as a student were actually nice people.
She enjoys working with some of her old teachers and recognizes the profound influence a teacher has on his or her students. “I want to make a different in my students’ lives,” she said.
In her spare time, Aso likes to sleep and surf. She claims she’s not very good at surfing, but enjoys it nonetheless.
Aso currently teaches Japanese 1, Japanese 4, and AP Japanese 4.
