This fall, Megumi Smiros joined the World Languages department to teach Japanese language classes, replacing longtime teacher Mariko Sato, who retired in June. In addition to teaching Japanese language classes, Ms. Smiros will also teach a St. John’s University film elective for seniors.
In describing her teaching philosophy, Ms. Smiros said, “I always want to encourage students not to give up and to keep sticking to what you love.” After completing a degree in film at Hofstra University, Ms. Smiros later served as a student teacher for Japanese at Francis Lewis High School. She recently earned her teaching certificate in July 2025.
“I hoped that I would find a school where I can use my skills, my knowledge, and everything that I have,” she said. “I didn’t want to waste what I know and what I can [do]. Somehow, the universe took me to THHS, and it was perfect that they asked me to teach Japanese and film.”
As part of the hiring process, Ms. Smiros met with Rafal Olechowski, Assistant Principal of World Languages and Social Studies, and Dr. Sato, her predecessor.
Mr. Olechowski, who hired Ms. Smiros, said, “The best part that attracted me really early on is that she was not afraid of the students. Sounds ridiculous, right? But sometimes, teachers have to overcome this.”
Mr. Olechowski also addressed the challenge of finding qualified Japanese teachers. While he mentioned that candidates for French and Spanish are easier to find, “other languages, like Japanese,” he said, “are not as easy.”
Dr. Sato spoke to The Classic about the qualities she was looking for in a new Japanese teacher: “She is a straightforward person, and she cares about students. These are the two pillars, in my opinion, to be a good educator,” she said.
Dr. Sato said, “I trust Smiros sensei to be very solid in her training, and obviously she’s a native of Japan, so she’s got a very solid background in Japanese culture and language.”
Drawing from her experience learning English, Ms. Smiros said she recognizes the difficulties students may face as they study a new language.
“When I was in high school, my grade was two out of five. It was terrible. I didn’t like English, but I had a goal. I wanted to go to college in the United States. So to do that, I needed to study,” she said.
Likewise, for Japanese, Ms. Smiros believes that students need to have strong motivation and a clear objective: “In Japanese class, you learn how to speak, you learn new words, [and] new grammar. But in learning all of this, what do you want to do with it? Do you want to go to Japan and go to a school as an exchange student? Do you want to go to Japan to travel, or do you want to go there to get a job?”
While they ponder over these questions, Ms. Smiros said she wants to reassure students not to “get disappointed in the process of learning. If they love Japanese culture, if they have a goal, they’re not going to stop.”
As Ms. Smiros settles into her new role, students spoke to The Classic about her courses.
Freshman and Japanese 1 student Emily Huang said, “I’ve had a good experience so far. It’s a little fast paced but Ms. Smiros is a pretty good teacher. I’m looking forward to being done with the alphabet. There are many Japanese alphabets.”
Junior Kanon Banno, currently enrolled in Japanese 3, said, “[Ms. Smiros and Dr. Sato] have similar curriculums and lesson plans. [She] does make the lesson clear.” Kanon also mentioned that her fellow classmates are on “a lot of different levels” when it comes to learning.
In addition to teaching sentence structure and vocabulary, Ms. Smiros uses her film experience to help students immerse themselves in the language by presenting documentaries about Japanese culture.
In one of her lessons for Japanese 2, students watched a 2024 documentary titled Instruments of a Beating Heart, directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki.
Sophomore Alexander Li said, “It was a film about a young Japanese girl and Ms. Smiros used it to connect Japanese elementary schools to us and show us the way of life of Japanese people.”
In Ms. Smiros’s St. John’s University “Art of Film” elective, Senior Michael Lugo explained that in learning film, he is most looking forward to understanding how films are produced. “Every day [Ms. Smiros] will do a new lesson on a different aspect of film while also showcasing popular movies from all eras,” Michael said.
Ms. Smiros described her motivations for teaching the SJU film elective: “[By] learning about film studies, [students] will know how this film makes you inspired and cry. All these different elements make the audience feel a certain way, right? It gives you … a certain emotion. So that’s what I want them to understand.”
For herself, Ms. Smiros’s immediate goal for this year, she said with a laugh, is simply “to survive.”
