This past Saturday, February 19th marked the 80th annual Day of Remembrance of Japanese American mass incarceration. Starting Friday and throughout this past weekend, the National Park Service, Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation co-hosted a series of free, live, virtual events addressing what happened, how it impacts what's still happening today and what can be done moving forward. We read about Hanako Wakatsuki, a Japanese American author, historian and park ranger who brings a wealth of knowledge to the legacy of what her family and 120,000 Japanese American's endured in the U.S. beginning in early 1942 through the summer of 1945. Over the years, she has shared what she learned at various sites within the national park system, including former camp locations and Pearl Harbor. She is now superintendent of the Honouliuli National Historic Site, which is still in development to preserve Japanese American confinement history in Hawaii. Both the National Park Service and Wakatsuki are intentional about the language they use to share these stories.

"It is important to accurately describe the history of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II without perpetuating euphemistic terms that the U.S. government and others employed at the time, or incorrect terms later substituted that do not adequately describe the injustice experienced by more than 120,000 people," reads Park Service's guidance around language. We cannot and must not ever forget - especially as this
period of history, what happened here,in America.

As World War II dragged on in the Pacific without an end in sight, the Allied leaders met at Potsdam to discuss how they could bring this war to a close. The day before the Conference began, President Truman learned that American scientists had successfully tested an atomic weapon. It was the culmination of a top-secret, 6-year program known as the Manhattan Project, which Truman himself had only just become aware of. Wishing to bring the war to a swift end, American planes dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Finally, Japan surrendered. VJ Day was celebrated on August 14, 1945 in the United States. Truman's decision was widely supported by the American public in 1945, but was debated as more and more historical details became available. Most revisionist interpretations, however, are either counterfactual - that is impossible to prove, or they lack solid historical evidence to support their claims. What are Jaydn's thoughts? Was the U.S. justified to use the atomic bomb against Japan to end WWII? Jaydn is adamantly against the use of the atomic bombs used to end WWII. Even 77 years later with a great degree of hindsight and declassified information, Jaydn's opinion re: this event remains strongly opposed to the ue of nuclear weapons!

Jaydn reviewed the novel being read. We discussed the themes and text that supports the themes. She then elaborated with her opinions. She then read. analyzed, and discussed the next chapter. We completed the session with a review of the SAT vocabulary being studied.

I worked some problems involving arc measures with Jaydn to reinforce the addition properties of central angles and arcs. I then introduced the formula for the area of circles and sectors. I showed her several examples of calculations of areas. There was no assignment.

Today we did an activity using the verbs learned: Hacer (to do), Poner (to put), Traer (to bring), and Salir (to leave).

Today she completed one activity from the activity notebook, where she practiced the verbs: Hace, Poner, Trear, Salir, in addition to the subjects and singular or plural in Spanish.

Today we talked about the present conjugation of verbs: Hacer, Poner, Trear, Salir. We did a Valentine's Day activity.

I reviewed the main parts of circles including the center, radius, and diameter. I also told her how the central angle of an arc or sector determined a minor or major arc, or a semicircle. I showed her how to calculate an arc measure consisting of lesser arcs. I also addressed the entire circumference with its formula. There was no assignment.

Jaydn had to answer questions prepared by her English teacher.

Today we discussed notable Americans for Jaydn to consider for our Black History celebration next week. Jaydn has chosen Jane Bolin. Bolin was a superb student who graduated from high school in her mid-teens and went on to enroll at Wellesley College. Though facing overt racism and social isolation, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928 and was officially recognized as one of the top students of her class. She then attended Yale Law School, contending with further social hostilities, yet nonetheless graduating in 1931 and thus becoming the first African-American woman to earn a law degree from the institution. Jane Bolin graduated from Yale Law School and, after relocating to New York City, became sworn in by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as the first African American female judge in the U.S. She served on the Family Court bench for four decades, advocating for children and families via outside institutions as well. She died at age 98 on January 8, 2007.