Interviewer: Natalia Fernández
Interview Date: January 14, 2015
Location: Portland, Oregon
Duration: 1:33:42
Beginning this interview, Bennett discusses personal information as well as her decision to move from American Samoa to Oregon and her early studies at Eastern Oregon University and the University of Oregon. Bennett discusses her life after college when her newly formed family moved back to American Samoa and then El Centro, California, when her teaching career began. From there, she highlights several of her mentors, her naturalization process, and the language barrier when she immigrated to the United States. The interview is then transferred to the present when she discusses the high percentage of students of color at her current school, Harold Oliver Elementary, her work as an advisory board member of IRCO's Asian Family Center, the needs of the Pacific Islander community, the Sun programs, and her work with the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation. The theme of the language barrier that many immigrants and refugees face consistently resurfaces. To close, Bennett emphasizes the importance of making connections amongst groups of immigrants and utilizing the resources that so many of the organizations she discusses provide.
Sivai Bennett was born in 1960 in American Samoa. She lived there until she moved to La Grande, Oregon, at age 18 to attend Eastern Oregon University and study political science. After two years, Bennett transferred to the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, where she continued her studies to become a lawyer even though she aspired to become a teacher. There she met her husband. She moved with him to La Grande and began her studies to become an elementary school teacher. In 1984, Bennett, her husband, and her daughter moved back to American Samoa where she taught high school. They then relocated to El Centro, California, in 1988 where they lived for 10 years. Eventually they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Bennett received her Masters of Arts in Teaching in 2003 at the University of Portland. Currently, she is a teacher at Harold Oliver Elementary in Portland. She also serves as a volunteer advisory board member of IRCO's Asian Family Center where her role is to advise the directors, help fundraise, and connect IRCO to her community. Bennett also serves as the secretary for the board of directors at the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation where she has previously held the positions of president, vice-president, and treasurer.
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Sivai Bennett was born in 1960 in American Samoa. She lived there until she moved to La Grande, Oregon, at age 18 to attend Eastern Oregon University and study political science. After two years, Bennett transferred to the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, where she continued her studies to become a lawyer even though she aspired to become a teacher. There she met her husband. She moved with him to La Grande and began her studies to become an elementary school teacher. In 1984, Bennett, her husband, and her daughter moved back to American Samoa where she taught high school. They then relocated to El Centro, California, in 1988 where they lived for 10 years. Eventually they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Bennett received her Masters of Arts in Teaching in 2003 at the University of Portland. Currently, she is a teacher at Harold Oliver Elementary in Portland. She also serves as a volunteer advisory board member of IRCO's Asian Family Center where her role is to advise the directors, help fundraise, and connect IRCO to her community. Bennett also serves as the secretary for the board of directors at the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation where she has previously held the positions of president, vice-president, and treasurer.