Gathering Place Valerie Baldovi

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You would be proud
of us today, Mrs. Ellis

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I saw the obituary for Elizabeth Nalani Ellis, who was my teacher at Kapalama School 53 years ago. My friends and I who were fortunate enough to have her as a teacher kept saying to one another, "Let's find Mrs. Ellis and have lunch with her."

However, two weeks ago Mrs. Ellis passed away, and we never got to see her and tell her what she meant to us. Feeling sad and guilty for not making a real effort to see her and wanting to share my feelings with her family, I decided to write my teacher a letter.

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June 29, 2004

Dear Mrs. Ellis,

I am so sorry that I didn't get to see you before you left this life. I wanted to tell you that I never stopped thinking of you through all these 53 years since I was your pupil at Kapalama School. I was one of the fortunate students who had you for a teacher for both my fifth- and sixth-grade years.

I'm not sure about what we were studying back then when we were not practicing hiding under our desks in case of an atom bomb attack. I remember you saying, "Don't look at the light. Keep your heads down!" I also remember having to learn how many miles it was between the sun and the planets in our solar system, and how many miles Magellan had to travel to go around the world! Nevilla remembers you asking if anyone knew where Walla Walla was, and only Evelyn Sakakida knew the answer. Today, not surprisingly, Evelyn is an Asian history professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

I remember you teaching us to do the Virginia Reel and how to do the Maypole Dance. You even taught us how to plant, care for, harvest and sell the vegetables from our class garden. I remember the afternoon that I had monitor duty after school, and I, by mistake, called you "Mom." I was so embarrassed, but you smiled and said that it was alright.

These are only some of the happy memories that we, your students, share when we reminisce about our childhood days. We comment about your warmth, your friendliness, your short curly hair, your freckles, your kindness to all of us.

Now, I am a retired teacher, and I can only hope that my former students will look back to the times we shared, and remember me with the same kind of respect and love that we all felt for you. On behalf of all 36 of us, we want you to know that we are your children, too, and that we were all blessed to have a school "Mom" like you.

Me Ke Aloha,

Valerie Yap Baldovi
Kapalama School, 1950-1951

P.S.: Of the 36 students (28 girls and eight boys), we have one executive movie producer ("The Last Samurai"), two university professors, one lawyer, one registered nurse, 10 teachers, one fire chief, two published authors, one Drug Enforcement Agency agent, one owner of a large trucking company. As far as we know, all are good citizens who speak Standard English! Mrs. Ellis, you would be so proud!

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Valerie Baldovi taught in Hawaii public schools for 17 years.