Kamala Harris, Vice President and current Democratic presidential nominee, credits her time at Thousand Oaks Elementary School with influencing her formative years and inspiring many aspects of her career, particularly her first-grade teacher, Frances Wilson.
“It is because of Mrs. Wilson and so many teachers like her that I stand before you as Vice President of the United States of America and that I am running to be president of the United States of America,” Harris said at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention.
Harris attended Thousand Oaks from first through third grade, but participated in Bay Area schooling programs from 1969 to 1976. She was part of the second integrated class in Berkeley public schools. She was bussed to school through the voluntary bus programs, made in support of movements that aimed to desegregate elementary schools in Berkeley.
Harris’ class was among the first to experience an integrated education from a young age.
“Our experience in elementary school, it was more, you know, everyone was together,” Jenn Radar, a Thousand Oaks alumna and former classmate of Harris, said.
Jen Corn, former principal of Thousand Oaks, spoke on the importance of integration in elementary school. “For many kids, (elementary school) is the first time that they’re away from their family and in a community with other people who are different from them,” Corn said.
Harris references this period of her life in speeches, social media posts, and interviews. On a Facebook post in 2019, after introducing a plan aiming to increase teachers’ salaries, she shared a picture of her Thousand Oaks yearbook and how the school was where she first learned the importance of teachers.
“Her vibe was quiet and kind and smart,” Radar said, describing a young Harris. The two were in the same fifth-grade class, and separately had Mrs. Campbell as a third-grade teacher, who Radar remembers as her “favorite teacher ever.”
Though no longer a student at Thousand Oaks, Harris’ legacy remains, and her story is used to invoke a sense of hope and pride within the school. In 2016, when Donald Trump was elected president, many students at Thousand Oaks were upset about the results. Corn, the principal at the time, says she struggled with how to address everything.
“I remember trying to decide how to lead our community in the wake of this election,” Corn said. She resolved to acknowledge the fear and emotions many students were experiencing about the new president, while also highlighting some more hopeful results of the election.
“Our state had just elected an alum of Thousand Oaks school to the Senate, and it was this kind of lovely silver lining during a really hard time in our community,” Corn said.
Within the school’s community, attention was drawn to Harris’ story. Corn linked that time period to the beginning of the mural at Thousand Oaks and Harris’ eventual place on it.
“We’ve had a lot of press interest in the Vice President’s experience at (Berkeley Unified School District), with many journalists asking to visit Thousand Oaks and see the mural in which she appears,” said Trish McDermott, BUSD senior communications officer. In 2018, a parent received a grant from the board of education for a mural. She approached Corn, suggesting a mural be put up at Thousand Oaks featuring a collection of prominent women.
Students at Thousand Oaks, who were doing projects about Women’s History Month at the time, voted on who would be represented in the mural. Harris ended up being one of the central figures, which she later expressed her gratitude for.
Bob Garrison, a fifth-grade teacher at Thousand Oaks, described Harris as a role model for students. “They can see themselves potentially in her,” Garrison said.
“She’s an amazing example of leadership,” Corn said. “Educators at Thousand Oaks are really happy to hold her up to kids and use as an example of what they can aspire to.”