ABSTRACT
Aki Kurose was born Akiko Kato to Japanese immigrant parents in Seattle, Washington State, USA. In the 1960s, Kurose joined the Congress of Racial Equality to help desegregate schools, housing, and construction unions, and eliminate employment discrimination. She also helped bring the first Head Start Program in Washington State, where she discovered her passion for teaching kids. After earning her bachelor's degree in Sociology in 1972, Kurose began to teach at elementary schools for the Seattle Public School System. In the mid-1970s, the Seattle Public School System desegregated its schools, and Kurose was moved to a predominantly White elementary school where she faced questioning from parents and other educators about her qualifications to teach. Throughout her years teaching, Kurose won numerous awards and much recognition for “her passion for teaching science and its usefulness for teaching children about the world in a non-sexist, multicultural way.
