Through Our Eyes

DR. GRACE MORIZAWA is the Education Coordinator for the NJAHS. Previously she was an elementary school teacher in Oakland and principal of Lake Elementary School in San Pablo, CA. Morizawa is a Sansei, third generation Japanese American. Her parents were incarcerated in Heart Mountain. Morizawa is a teacher consultant with the Bay Area Writing Project. She has a BA in English from Pacific University, an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, and a doctorate from the Leadership in Education and Equity Program at University of California, Berkeley.

DR. STAN PESICK taught 11th grade United States history in the Oakland Unified School District for eighteen years. From 2008-2012 he coordinated the Oakland Unified History/Social Studies Department. Pesick has worked with the Bay Area Writing Project as a teacher consultant since 1989. He has worked as a curriculum consultant to the NJAHS since 2014. Pesick is currently working with National Writing Project, University of California, Berkeley, to develop materials and methods focused on helping students write more effectively for political and civic purposes. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

LYNN FONFA brings over thirty-five years of experience in the field of education. She recently retired from her position as Education Specialist for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Since 1995, she directed the K through 12 programs for one of the largest urban national parks. She earned a Master’s Degree in Education, specializing in Environmental Education/Curriculum Design, and a Master’s Degree in Public History, specializing in United States history and historic preservation. Previous to the NPS, Fonfa worked as an archivist, educator, and development associate with several prestigious historical associations, including the California Historical Society and the Western Jewish Historical Center of the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley.

ARACELY MONTERO is the Education Branch Specialist at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Her role includes developing relevant place-based and curriculum-based education programs, supporting Education Rangers at Muir Woods, Presidio, Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, and Fort Point, and working with partners who support youth programming within the Bay Area. Montero is also a member of the N.P.S. Allies for Inclusion Committee and a trained facilitator to host dialogues in our park around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Montero received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara and attained her Master’s degree in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism with a focus on Social Justice Education from San Francisco State University.

ROSALYN TONAI is the executive director of the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. She was the project director and co-curator of the exhibition Strength & Diversity, Japanese American Women, 1885 to 1990, a groundbreaking award-winning museum exhibition co-produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the Oakland Museum of California. Tonai has co-edited four teacher’s/classroom guides, The Bill of Rights: the Japanese Americans and the World War II Experience, Honor Bound, the Story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Making Peace and Classroom Activities Guide: Diamonds in the Rough, Japanese Americans in Baseball. She is a graduate of the Getty Museum Management Institute and the Coro Foundation Asian Pacific leadership program. Tonai has an M.P.A. from the Nonprofit Management Institute, University of San Francisco’s College of Professional Studies, and a B.A. Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.

Workshops Tailored for specific regions
– Stipend of $300 per workshop. Attendance limited to one workshop –

Through Our Eyes: an Investigation into Rohwer and Jerome Incarcerees Relations with African Americans is a place-based curriculum workshop. Subject matter is being customized to address the unique teaching opportunities in five regional areas.

Participant Stipend: $300

This project, Through Our Eyes: an Investigation into Rohwer and Jerome Incarcerees Relations with African Americans, is funded in part by the Japanese American Confinement Sites grant, administered by the National Park Service, the National Japanese American Historical Society, and the Chizu, and the Chizu and Ernest Iiyama Memorial Fund.