Keiko Howard

“I’m [like] Dracula … I’m just inhaling youth from [my] students,” Japanese teacher Keiko Howard said. “[When] I [teach] every day, I get younger … The [students] give me energy.”

Howard is approaching her 17th and final year at MVHS after teaching at FUHSD for 22 years 

“[The] academic thing is very important [and] teaching content is very important,” Howard said. “But I [started] feeling that [having] a relationship [with my students] is more important.” 

This shift in Howard’s teaching philosophy took place during her time at MVHS. When she first began teaching, she describes feeling pressured to cover all the material in the textbook in time, but later realizing that she could adjust her curriculum based on each class of students because she was the only Japanese teacher at MVHS.

“I can [always] cover [the content] next year [if] it’s too difficult for this level,” Howard said. “It’s OK [for me] to sit back and then think about the students rather than thinking about academics.”

Because Howard served all levels of Japanese at MVHS, this allowed her to familiarize herself with her students.

“When I moved to [MVHS], … it was kind of hard to get to know the students … because they had the [previous Japanese] teacher,” Howard said. “[Now], I am very fortunate. I can see how students change from freshmen [year] until they graduate … I feel more comfortable teaching [like this].”

Senior and Japanese National Honor Society president Joshua Ho remembers hearing from his older brother as a middle school student about the strong sense of community Howard creates in her classes.

“I heard many great stories about Ms. Howard and how nice she was and what a great class [Japanese] was, so I wanted [to take Japanese] to see for myself,” Ho said. “[Her class] definitely lived up to my expectations, [if not] exceeded them … it’s [been] a great experience.”

Having taken Japanese for all four years at MVHS, Ho emphasizes Howard’s flexibility in adapting to the learning style and personality of each class. For example, when he was a freshman, the class spontaneously decided to play a game in which Howard would say a character from a Japanese writing system they were learning and members of the class would use a fly swatter to slap the character on the whiteboard that she listed out. 

“It was this fun dynamic that we had where she would be open to taking suggestions and taking ideas [from the class],” Ho said. 

While she was first inspired to teach based on her experience in an English teaching credential program she had completed in Japan, Howard was worried that her English was not easily understandable. Thus, in addition to growing vegetables and staying active after she retires, Howard plans to “relearn” English.

Over her almost two decades teaching at MVHS, Howard says she has not only developed close bonds with her students, but with other staff members too. At the FUHSD board meeting on April 6, assistant principal Janice Chen thanked Howard for being “a caring and compassionate and flexible teacher.”

Joshua Ho agrees with the sentiments expressed by Chen. He recalls how, in his junior year, Howard scaled back work in response to students’ stressful AP course load.

“To describe [Howard], I would use words like ‘caring’ and ‘understanding,’” Ho said. “As her students, we can all feel that she cares about us. [Howard] has definitely left a mark in the Japanese program and [in] all the students that have had her.”

Even though Ho considers Howard to be easy-going, it has not hampered her students’ academic achievements. Chen explains that Howard’s students are still able to perform at a nationally competitive level in Japanese, citing how Howard and a group of her students won the “National Champion” title at the Japanese National Language competition in Washington D.C.

Aside from this accomplishment, according to Howard, the moments that stand out to her the most throughout her career are when former students came back and shared that they continued studying the Japanese language and culture even after leaving her class.

“Everyone has different seeds and I feel like I helped them bloom,” Howard said. “I am just giving a little water to them so that they [can connect] to Japan.”