Alice Nishimoto, 2013 Garvey School Teacher of the Year, will be talking about “Ellis Island” at the dinner meeting of the East Los Angeles-Montebello Business and Professional Women on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at Polly’s Pie Restaurant, 1322 W. Beverly Blvd., Montebello (Networking starts at 4:30 p.m. with dinner to be selected from the menu to start before 5:00 p.m. Price depends on what the person orders from the menu). The program and dinner is open to all interested people. Call or E-mail Linda Wilson (626) 307-5650 or lindalwilson@juno.com to make a reservation or for questions.

Alice Nishimoto has a BA in Home Economics from Whittier College and a MA in Education from California State University, Los Angeles. She has taught at Rice School for more than 16 years where she teaches 5th grade. She has received numerous grants from National Endowment of the Humanities to study at various places in the East Coast during the past summers including Ellis Island. She has also served as a BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) Mentor and PAR (Peer Assistance and Review) Consulting Teacher and Lead Teacher in the K-12 Science Alliance while at Garvey.  She has worked with the Ocean Institute, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Cabrillo Beach and Marine Aquarium at various capacities to enrich “water” education for her students. Because of this work, she was honored with a proclamation from the California State Senate for the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Groundbreaking Project. She was a volunteer docent for the Monterey Park Historical Society from 1993-2012. From 2001-02 she was President of the Whittier Home Economists in Home and Community (WHEHC), and from 2007-08 she was the Program Co-Chair. From 2000-01 she was the Play Days Fundraising Chair for the United Methodist Church. From 1997-2000 she was a member of the City of Monterey Park’s Commission on Aging.
In 2008 Nishimoto received a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to visit and do research at Ellis Island. Immigration from Europe started going through Ellis Island in 1892 and continued until 1954 when it was essentially abandoned. One of the buildings she was allowed to visit on this program – regular tourists do not get to see it – was the hospital. She will present a PowerPoint and share with us what she learned at Ellis Island about the immigrants and what they went through.