See It: Dedication Ceremony For LBUSD High School -- Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science -- Honoring Former Mayor Eunice Sato, Who Overcame Wartime Prejudice, Rose To Civic And Political Leadership Roles

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(Sept. 7, 2016, 12:05 p.m.) -- A large crowd assembled on September 6 at the former Hill Middle School (1100 Iroquois Avenue just east of CSULB) to dedicate the campus as the "Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science," now a High School (grades 9 through 12) honoring former Long Beach Mayor Eunice Sato.

Principal Mona Merlo conducted the event, which featured remarks by LBUSD Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser, Long Beach School Board President Jon Meyer and Mr. Douglas Sato, Mayor Sato's son, who spoke on behalf of the Sato family for his mother who's reached the age of 95.

LBREPORT.com provides extended on-demand VIDEO coverage below.

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From from event program:

[Event program text] Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science is the first school in the district to be named for an Asian American. Sato, now 95 years old, was born in Livingston, near Modesto. The daughter of Japanese immigrants, her family farmed vegetables in California's Central Valley.
Eunice got her A.A. at Modesto Jr. College and subsequently enrolled in San Jose State College until WWII broke out. Sato was forced to flee to Colorado with her parents and siblings to avoid being interned by the U.S. government. Her father, Bunsaku Noda, had already been jailed as a Japanese American community leader.
She later graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, and earned a master's degree in education from Columbia University in New York City. Sato subsequently taught school in Michigan and Yokohama, Japan before returning to California.
In 1950, she married Thomas Takahashi Sato, and the couple moved with their three children to Long Beach in 1956. The four-foot, 10-inch wife and mother was a natural leader and quickly became a force in school and church organizations and the local Republican Party.
In 1975, she was elected to the Long Beach City Council, serving until 1986. Sato recalled in an interview with the Long Beach Press Telegram that "Long Beach was really at rock bottom" during her tenure as mayor from 1980-82.
According to Sato, she and her fellow council members managed to put in policies and plans that resulted in the turnaround of a city plagued with budget shortfalls and local economic depression.
After leaving city politics, Sato served as president of the California Conference for Equality and Justice and on three state commissions as well as the National Advisory Council on Educational Research.
"I try to work wherever needed and to do my best to serve society," Sato said. "And when you do that, you have no regrets."