Forrest Gump: meet Ms. Yuki Basso

Lauren Wong
July 7, 2010
Filed under Features

In 2003, Yuki Basso watched with consternation, as 50 middle school students crammed into her newly assigned, rodent infested classroom in Los Angles, California.

“They were sitting on top of each other literally,” reflects Ms. Basso as she sits in her ‘Iolani School classroom, furnished with palm trees, a Beatles poster, and photographs of her students.

Ms. Basso, a seventh and eighth grade English teacher, has long learned to adjust to difficult situations.  As the daughter of an American father and Japanese mother, Ms. Basso lived in Tokyo, Japan, until she was 18.  Her mixed heritage subjected her to looks that seemed to ask, “Look!  What is that tropical bird?”

Yet during the second semester of her junior year at Boston College, this spirit of adaptation coupled with a passion for social justice urged her to travel across the continent to partake in Teach For America, a national corps of recent college graduates who teach in low-income schools.

“I felt a sense of calm after I decided that this was what I wanted to do,” says Ms. Basso with a smile.

However, not even four weeks of “TFA (Teach For America) boot camp” could prepare Ms. Basso, who did not possess a degree in education, to teach at Edison Middle School.

“It was a colorful experience,” says Ms. Basso, “and the challenge of a lifetime.”

Indeed, during her first year in TFA, Ms. Basso was both a full-time teacher and a full time student- teaching English and studying for her Master’s degree concurrently.  Ms. Basso taught miscellaneous English, English as a Second Language, and ancient civilization courses before settling as the coordinator of Gifted and Talented Children.

Her students kept her motivated.  “I wanted to do something about the lack of resources for children so intrinsically motivated,” she says.

After four years, trying to get around “the red tape” that limited the education of her students, Ms. Basso decided to leave Edison Middle School.  In 2007, she became the new English teacher at ‘Iolani School.

Although ‘Iolani School differs greatly from Edison Middle School, Ms. Basso finds that “youngsters are youngsters” and “teenagers are universally teenagers.”

“You can kind of expect the same sort of crises and turmoil,” she explains.

Today, Ms. Basso has channeled all her experiences into her teaching.

For her classes, “rather than just memorizing it (information), you have to understand it and apply it to life,” says Robert Main, a seventh grade student of Ms. Basso.

Ms. Basso continues to transition to ‘Iolani’s schedule.  Teachers constantly tell her that she is running.  “Run, Basso, run!” she says while she walks from Castle Building to Weinberg Building to supervise her homeroom, waving to eight students and a teacher along the way.

Life certainly seems like a box of chocolates for Ms. Basso. Yet for now, she concludes, “This is the right place for me.”