She praised Sahara sensei's special skill in engaging her students in listening to Japanese carefully and speaking in Japanese quickly by making all her students believe that she is a monolingual teacher. And, because of her teaching style of implementing songs, gestures and games, Sahara sensei makes learning so much fun for children, and they learn so much.

Sahara sensei's involvement with activities outside of her classroom is also remarkable. Her former student, Cassidy Wolfe, wrote: "Sahara sensei takes immense pride in her students and loved showing off what we learned to the rest of the school, parents, and Japanese people. Each year she would organize some kind of play or ask us to sing some song at an assembly in Japanese for the entire school to see". She goes on to say: "Sahara sensei is not only involved with the school, but is also involved with the local community. Each year it seems as though her students are featured in either the Washington Post or a local newspaper

In order for her students to be exposed to Japanese culture, each year she organizes a trip to Japan with sixth graders and parents. She believes that cultural exposure must be a two-way exchange, and was instrumental in establishing a 10 year sister school agreement with a school in Japan about two years ago.

Sahara sensei works closely with the Fairfax County Public Schools and George Mason University with the projects such as developing a web-based network that collects data on the former Japanese Immersion students, and developing a tutoring network by providing a link between college students and students in the Immersion Program as well as Fairfax County high school students. Her contribution in promoting and developing an Immersion Program is immensely valued by our profession.

Two programs that she initiated were unique and reflect her philosophy. Ten years ago, she started a senior volunteer instructor program through which retired Japanese come from Japan to help students of Japanese in and outside of class at CSU. These volunteers provide students with traditional Japanese culture experiences, but they also share their war experiences, work experiences, work ethics, and advice on how to take a job interview in Japan. A reciprocal program through which the CSU Japanese Section sends students as volunteer English teachers has just launched officially with Yamagata Prefecture this summer.

Ms. Beecken believes that teaching should involve a balancing act of learning and thinking. Teachers need to learn constantly and apply their own theories and thoughts to their learning. What she wishes to accomplish through teaching Japanese is to educate students to be true global citizens who have understanding of and respect for other cultures. She hopes to help make them aware of social problems, as well as seek ways to solve them and contribute to the society. It seems that her hope is well underway.