Voices of Appian Way: Education — and the ideas that drive us is a video series exploring what drives HGSE community members to do what they do, and the positive change they aspire to make in education. The video asks HGSE students, alumni, faculty, and guests about their commitment to challenging and changing education. Season 2 Ep. 02 - Mari Sawa, Ed.M.’22: Initially recruited as Earth Eight's founding English teacher, Sawa is now the director of English education and leads a team of foreign teachers living in Okayama, Japan. In this role, she oversees curriculum, heads parent-teacher programs, directs an afterschool program, and teaches a few classes. Creating community with the school's families continues to be at the heart of Earth Eight's mission. As a part of the original teaching team, Sawa's goal was to bring back traditional Japanese community involvement, which was lost over the years with increasing western influence. Read more: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/22/01/bridging-gap-between-home-and-school Harvard Graduate School of Education Website: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvardeducation/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarvardEducation/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hgse Since its founding in 1920, the Harvard Graduate School of Education has been training leaders to transform education in the United States and around the globe. Today, our faculty, students, and alumni are studying and solving the most critical challenges facing education: student assessment, the achievement gap, urban education, and teacher shortages, to name just a few. Our work is shaping how people teach, learn, and lead in schools and colleges as well as in after-school programs, high-tech companies, and international organizations. The HGSE community is pushing the frontiers of education, and the effects of our entrepreneurship are improving the world.