Spotlight on Dr. Steve Bloom, BA’74 

Story by Jenny Drastura

Charleston native Steve Bloom found Marshall’s special education teacher program to be very rigorous. “I was well prepared for my teaching responsibilities and ready to face the challenges of graduate education,” Steve said. He would go on to Florida Atlantic University for a master’s in educational psychology and later a doctorate in special education from the University of New Mexico. And then on to a career he loves.

Steve and his wife, Kathy, now reside in Okinawa, Japan, “We’ve been with the Department of Defense since 1982 and have worked in Spain, Italy and now Japan. I joined the school system for the opportunity to live and work overseas. It has been a great privilege to serve the U.S. military by providing their children a world-class education, while they serve our country at locations around the world.” 

Steve is deputy director for the Department of Defense Schools-Pacific. ”Our mission,” Steve said, “is to provide a quality education from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade for eligible family members of the U.S. military and DOD civilian personnel. From our offices in Okinawa, we oversee 45 schools located on Okinawa, Mainland Japan, South Korea and in Guam with a total enrollment of approximately 25,000 students. 

“Although our students have much in common with their stateside counterparts in public schools, they do face unique challenges,” Steve added. “These children are highly mobile and due to current world events, face the uncertainty of having a parents regularly deploy, possibly into harm's way.” 

Steve is also involved with the high school sports program, especially wrestling. “Our wrestling program varies from most stateside schools as we compete primarily in Olympic Freestyle competition. We sent a team of young wrestlers from the Far East (Team Okinawa) to the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.  Additionally, our students have the opportunity to compete against Japanese students, and my sons have even trained with the Japanese National Coach and National Team members.” 

“Living in Japan allows for many interesting and exciting family adventures. Travel is a great joy, with Okinawa serving as a great jumping off point to visit many countries in the Pacific Region. Growing up here has allowed my children to visit Thailand, Viet Nam, Korea and Indonesia. For us, learning the culture of the people of Japan and the Far East has been an exceptional learning opportunity for our family.

“Our children were born all over the world,” Steve added. “Jacob (16) and Harry (15) were born in Spain; Benjamin (12) in Japan and Lianna (6) in China. I think they have a special appreciation for diversity and a special pride in being American. Visiting friends and family in the summer is very important for them."