Bainbridge Island Residents of Japanese Ancestry walking down the Eagledale Dock with only what they could carry, begining their forced removal, March 30, 1942.
“Only What We Could Carry”
was the rule,
so we carried
Strength, Dignity and Soul.
– Lawson Fusao Inada
About
Only What We Can Carry
The Only What We Can Carry project (OWWCC) uses the study of WWII, Japanese American Exclusion, and its impact on Bainbridge Island, to foster learning experiences about exclusion, inclusion and citizenship. An educational and community development project, OWWCC was founded to provide educators and citizens experiences that can inform a more lived curriculum for students, build bridges across generations, and enrich communities.
Bainbridge Island offers a unique educational landscape to engage with living local and global history, particularly because of the Island’s role in the story of WWII and the Japanese American Exclusion.
OWWCC Delegations to Manzanar
OWWCC organizes delegations of Bainbridge Island educators paired with current and former citizens of Bainbridge Island who lived through WWII and the experience of "internment," to retrace the 1942 journey of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American community to Manzanar concentration camp, California. The four-day journey gives delegates the opportunity to explore historic sites; walk where they and/or their friends walked seven decades ago; discover artifacts; interact with subject experts; and do research. With new friendships and expanded access to resources, delegates bring back extraordinary ideas for enhancing curriculum and meaningful experiences to share with their students and community.
Educational Programs for Teachers and Students
OWWCC also supports teaching and learning about the experience of Japanese American Exclusion on Bainbridge Island. Through experiential programs that use our community as curriculum, we expand upon the lessons learned through our delegations to Manzanar, by providing lived experiences surrounding the unique history and heritage of this Island community. Our aims are focused on enhancing and enriching the education remaining generations, while grounding a culture of curriculum, school and community that can be sustained into a future we will not live to see.
These programs served Island schools and bring schools from throughout the Puget Sound region to Bainbridge to bring this subject of study to life.
“These conscientious educators with deep understanding teaching the ‘Internment Experience’ makes the community and world a better place.”
– Kay Sakai Nakao
Global Source and Bainbridge Island School District leaders at the WASA Community Awards.
L-R: Katy Curtis, Jon Garfunkel, Mary Woodward (OWWCC Board) , Kay Nakao (OWWCC Board), Julie Goldsmith (BISD Asst Superintendent), Pam Keyes (BISD Director of Communications), and Faith Chapel (BISD Superintendent)
May 2011...Global Source Education was honored by the Bainbridge Island School District with a Community Recognition Award and presented the Community Leadership Award by the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) for "outstanding community leadership and contributions to the improvement of public education." We are grateful for such meaningful recognition of our two locally grown projects centered on Bainbridge Island, OWWCC and EduCulture.
OWWCC in the News
OWWCC Board of Advisors:
• Jim Corsetti,
Principal, Sakai Intermediate School
• Bill Covert, Wilkes Elementary School
• Kathy Ellison, Sakai Intermediate School
• Frank Kitamoto, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
• Lilly Kodama, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
• Hisa Matsudaira, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
• Kay Sakai Nakao, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
• Jo Vander Stoep, Retired Principal, Sakai Intermediate School
• Mary Woodward, Educator and Author, "In Defense of Our Neighbors"
• Alisa Lynch, Manzanar Historic Site, National Park Service
OWWCC Partners and Collaborators:
• Bainbridge Island School District
• Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC)
• Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial (BIJAEMA)
• Bainbridge Island Historical Museum
• Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms
• Manzanar Historic Site, National Park Service
• Japanese American National Museum
• Multicultural Advisory Council of Bainbridge Island School District
• Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council
• Walt and Milly Woodward Fund
• Bainbridge One Call for All
OWWCC Staff
• Jon Garfunkel, Co-Director, (Managing Director, Global Source Education)
• Katy Curtis, Co-Director (Educational Outreach Coordinator, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum)
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