Clovis Unified names newest school after a longtime teacher who ‘rose above’ adversity
For the first time in its history, Clovis Unified is naming a school after a Japanese American who helped at-risk students in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The district’s newest school will bear the name Satoshi “Fibber” Hirayama, a long-time Clovis Unified teacher and leader who students can look to as an example, the board unanimously decided Wednesday.
Teachers yelled out “Yes” and cheered during the meeting when the board suggested Hirayama’s name for the school.
“Hirayama, who retired in 1991 and passed away in 2021, represents those educators who work in the classroom, those who lead schools and departments, and the district’s classified staff whom he worked with as a human resources leader under founding Superintendent Floyd ‘Doc’ Buchanan,” district spokesperson Kelly Avants said.
Hirayama taught at Clovis High and became the first principal of Gateway High, a continuation school for students at risk of not graduating.
He believed all the students could graduate, retired district administrator Dan Kaiser said in a 2018 video for the Clovis Unified Hall of Fame.
He left a legacy
Hirayama grew up on a farm with his family in Exeter.
During World War II, the government imprisoned the 12-year-old Hirayama and his family in an internment camp in Arizona when the United States declared Japanese-Americans “enemy aliens.”
He spent three years behind barbed wire at the Poston War Relocation Center in southwestern Arizona, one of 10 internment camps where 120,000 Japanese-Americans, the majority U.S. citizens, were imprisoned during the war.
But he rose above it, Trustee Clint Olivier detailed.
He overcame those challenges and excelled academically and athletically, Clovis Unified said. He returned to the Central Valley, where he graduated from Exeter Union High School and Fresno State.
Considered one of the Valley’s and Fresno State’s greatest athletes in baseball and football, he was drafted into Major League Baseball by the St. Louis Browns, a career he halted to serve the U.S. Army in the Korean War. After his military service, he became the first Japanese American All-Star in Japan’s professional baseball league. His sports career earned him a spot in the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame.
He returned to the Central Valley, raised a family and became a teacher and administrator for three decades. During that time, he devoted much of his career to helping disenfranchised students overcome challenges and excel.
“That’s the kind of example that I want to put on a school name. If anyone has left a legacy, it’s Fibber,” board member Steven Fogg said.
Set to open in August 2024 to prevent overcrowding, Hirayama Elementary will be the district’s 35th elementary school, located near Fowler and McKinley avenues in the southeast area of the city.
A subcommittee of Trustees Hugh Awtrey, Fogg and Olivier considered dozens of community members as well as local features and themes in naming the school, including Harvest, Orange Grove, Golden Hills and Independence. But the committee, and the board, through its vote, agreed that honoring Hirayama’s legacy for his contributions to academics and athletics was the best decision.
“For all of his qualifications and for what he exudes in his persona, will be a great legacy for kids to look up to,” board member Tiffany Stoker-Madsen said.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 9:17 AM.
