"We are so fortunate to have a teacher like Jill Nakamura . . . As parents, we do what we can to teach our children in the first five years of their lives. Then, we entrust them to the hands of strangers. Mrs. Nakamura made her classroom a family, and in turn, became a part of our family."
—Parent

"When our son entered the first grade, he was at the beginning stages of writing and reading. He had difficulty keeping on task and lacked the confidence to get the help he needed. Within two days in Mrs. Nakamura's class, she could tell us exactly what areas he needed to work on academically, and how we could help him to get to grade level."
—Parent

About Jill Nakamura
First-grade teacher Jill Sayuri Nakamura truly leaves no child behind. According to the students, parents, and coworkers whose lives she touches daily, Nakamura is nothing less than extraordinary, and her efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Fresno, California, educator was named to USA Today's annual All-Star Teacher Team, an honor bestowed upon only twenty teachers nationwide.

About the School
For the past six years, Nakamura has been teaching at Wishon Elementary School, an inner-city inclusion school with an enrollment of approximately 700 students in preschool through sixth grade. The school serves a very diverse population; students range from Hispanic and Lao to African American and Caucasian, and have a wide range of educational, social, and linguistic needs. Thirty-seven percent of students have been designated as English language learners, and all students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Due to the high level of poverty, children often enter school lacking a strong educational foundation, with medical, emotional, or behavioral needs that have not been addressed. Like many urban schools, Wishon strives to meet all the needs of its diverse population while working towards increased student achievement.

A Closer Look at Her Success
Nakamura takes pride in her ability to positively influence others. "Teaching is such a powerful occupation," she says. "This profession does make a difference in people's lives. Parents and students look up to us for guidance and my first goal is to make my families feel comfortable with me. I want them to know that I'm just like them."

Focus on family
One of the ways Nakamura establishes this comfort with families is through home visits. Before or early in the school year, and on her own time, the educator visits every student at home for about an hour to engage in a pre-planned activity of the student's choice. Through tree climbing, baking, swimming, or other endeavors, she is provided with valuable insight into the issues that may affect her students' learning, and establishes a partnership with each family so that she can focus on the curriculum. Even in households where English is not the first language, Nakamura is able to make a connection. "I am always amazed how I can communicate to my second-language families without an interpreter," she says. "They know that I truly care about their child's education."

Inspire excellence
Nakamura's focus on curriculum extends beyond the classroom. The goal of her afterschool program, a reading club for struggling students, is to instill a positive relationship with learning. She understands that students will perform to the level the teacher expects of them—and her expectations are high.

Nakamura not only stresses academic learning, but also student understanding of respect, responsibility, and pride. Her pupils have to thank the school cooks daily, say please when asking for something, and greet every guest who walks into the room. If a student makes a poor choice, he or she has to call or write his or her parent a note. At recess, onlookers may find students picking up trash or helping each other with class work. Julie Severns, principal of Wishon Elementary shares that Nakamura, "teaches the students to monitor themselves and support each other. The enthusiasm and excitement about learning together, exhibited by the teachers and the students, can be felt by visitors . . . Students leave her classroom . . . with a strong understanding of being a good citizen and respecting others."

Vice Principal of Wishon Elementary Val Hogwood also commends Nakamura's abilities, "I have seen Jill attend a teacher training of effective strategies on one day, and the very next day, implement those strategies within her classroom so the students can instantly gain from her advancement of knowledge."

Don't forget to have fun
Nakamura also knows how to incorporate fun into learning. Kids who get one hundred percent on spelling tests get to do the Hokey Pokey on their desks while everyone else dances on the floor. Nakamura gives children a "wow!" for good work; then buys lunch for those earning one hundred "wows!" During a special unit on winter, Nakamura's own parents even delivered five truckloads of snow to temperate Fresno, encouraging students to collaborate, plan, design, and build their own snowmen. Many students had never touched snow before.

Results
Last year, Nakamura successfully raised the percentage of students reading at or above grade level from twenty-nine to seventy-six percent. To give her students the best chance of succeeding, she requests that she stay with the same class—from first through second grade—to work with children who have not yet mastered a skill.

Four years ago, Wishon Elementary was identified as an under-performing school based on student test results. Despite many challenges, the school as a whole has steadily increased those test scores, thanks to the efforts of teachers like Nakamura. Today, the community can boast having a caring and committed educator—one of the best in the United States—working for their children.