KLI Times Spring 2023 Page 2

special *** Goodbye special *** Goodbye special *** Goodbye

Big thank you to Naoko

KLI' longest serve teacher calls time on being college head

Naoko Nakamura receiving flowers from students at the 2023 graduation ceremony.

by Lishu Kinjo

KLI’s
headteacher
Naoko
Nakamura brings down thecurtain after 25 years at theKadena college.
Naoko started working at KLI
when it was first opened in1998 as an English teacher
and became the vice principal
in 2012. During her time at KLI,
she has helped hundreds ofstudents come through KLI’sdoors. She has taught themEnglish, helped with their
Japanese improvement too,and given them support as they
make decisions about theirsteps after graduation.
Many of those students havegone onto successful careers
using English, and some haveseen their own children comehere
someyears
later,
following in the footsteps oftheir parents and also beingtaught by Naoko. Naoko has
also
workedwithaninternational group of teachers

KLI Times’ Meg Kamiunten caught
up with the outgoing head to findout how she came to be such an
integral and influential member ofthe college’s life.
How did you come to work at KLI?
“ If we don’t have enough land tocultivate we should cultivate ourminds”.
These were the words of the former
mayor, Tokijitsu Miyagi, when heestablished KLI with passion in 1998.
Kadena has focused on nurturing
young individuals who have aninternationalized mind and will actively
contribute to society in the future andso this is why it founded the college. I

and office staff from manybackgrounds, with staff comingfrom the U.S.A, Peru, theUnited, Kingdom, China, andvarious
prefectures
fromacross Japan. Although Naoko
officially retires this year, she
has decided to stay on as apart­time Eiken teacher for theBeginner and Intermediateclasses.
So even the new students at
KLI will have the chance toenjoy her support as they findtheir own paths in life.

joined the college’s preparatorycommittee as a member in 1997 andwhen KLI started I also started mycareer as an English teacher at KLI. A
few years later I became a headteacher, then I became a viceprincipal.
Thinking back to those days, it was aquite natural step for me.
Have you ever had a hard time?
What was that?
Thinking back to my days as a viceprincipal, yes, I have had some hardexperiences.
WhenI
couldn’tcommunicate with students well or
couldn’t make the students understandmy thoughts, it was a tough time.

An international life
Naoko Nakamura was born in Nakijin village andmoved to Kadena town when she was a pre­school
student. After graduating Yomitan high school, shestudied English at Okinawa Christian Junior College.
After college, Naoko got a job using English but sheworked at a town office and a clothing company
along the way. Naoko’s grandparents wereimmigrants to Peru, her father was born in thePhilippines. The grandparents could speak threelanguages when they talked to Naoko: Japanese,
Okinawan and Spanish. This stimulated Naoko tostudy English, which eventually brought her to KLI.

What do you personally get from therole of a vice principal?
Well, my great joy is being a witness tothe dramatic growth of young people.
Not only English skills but also socialskills.
What is your most memorableexperience?
I can’t pick up just one, I have somany.
I had great colleagues, they supported
me perfectly.
I have met many interesting people
through my job and I was inspired bythem, especially when graduate
students were visiting me and making
me cry with joy.

What are you going to do after yourretirement? Do you have a plan?
I will continue to work as an English
teacher so I have to study and improve
my English skills.
Secondly, I will put more effort intoanother career as a mediator at thefamily court.
For my fun things, I will enjoy
gardening and trips.
I’d like to climb a mountain to see
beautiful wild flowers.
Do you have a message for KLI
students?
Yes, enjoy all the things coming to youat KLI. Enjoy even the hard things, itwill surely mature you.