After seven years of teaching and leading Ms Ta’a’s Aoga Amata Pre-School in Tulaele, 68-year-old Pinelo Tuimalealiifano Laura, the school’s founder, is saying farewell to the classroom.

Laura, the daughter of the late Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II, a former member of Samoa’s Council of Deputies, and Ta’a, said this will be her final year at the pre-school, which she established in honour of her mother. She will be returning to the United States on Sunday.

“I retired from the Los Angeles Unified District School (LAUSD) and came back to Samoa to start Ms Ta’a’s Aoga Amata Pre-School seven years ago,” she told the Samoa Observer. “I left my husband, Michael Laura, and our two children in Long Beach, California. Every year, I would return home for Christmas, then come back to Samoa before school started again in February.”

Laura said leaving her family behind each year was one of the hardest sacrifices she has ever made, but one she felt called to undertake.

“I don’t think there’s anyone else who could do what I did, the sacrifice of leaving my husband and family to come and serve here,” she said. “The school is on my parents’ land in Tulaele, and it’s named after my mother, Ta’a.”

Her devotion to education stretches back nearly five decades. Laura graduated from Samoa’s Teachers’ Training College (TTC) in 1976 and began her career as a teacher in Samoa before moving to American Samoa in 1978, where she met her husband, who was teaching at Samoana High School.

The couple later moved to the United States in 1981, where Laura pursued higher education at California State University, Dominguez Hills, earning a degree in Liberal Studies. She went on to teach at Delores Street School under the Los Angeles Unified School District until her retirement.

“When I retired, I wanted to give back to my country,” Laura said. “I asked my husband if I could return to Samoa to use the strength I still had left to serve in the place where my teaching career first began.”

Although she said it will be emotional to leave, Laura is grateful that the school will remain in capable hands.

“My sister, Elisapeta Asiata, who was the principal at Ululoloa Pre-School, will take over the school,” she said. “As for me, I’ll return to America to be with our family.”

For Laura, the creation of Ms Ta’a’s Aoga Amata was more than an act of service. It was a tribute to her parents and a gift to her community.

“It’s been a blessing,” she said. “To serve my community, my family, and my country, that’s what matters most.”