When Jo-Ann Nitta Bristow was just out of graduate school, she taught third grade at an elementary school at a housing project in Flushing, N.Y. When she'd come back to her class after trips home to Hawaii, she'd bring frozen laulau and Portuguese sausage. "We had radiator pipes in my classroom, very dangerous, but I would put the food on the radiator pipe and by lunch time, it would be hot and I would share with my students."

That was in the 1970s. Years later, one of her former students showed up unannounced at the Children's Center, the early learning school in Nuuanu, where she has been for 35 years. He had grown up to be a teacher, too, and never forgot her.

"He said, 'I told myself I'm going to come to Hawaii one day and find Miss Nitta.' "

It's a great story, but a fairly common one in Bristow's life. Though she has focused on early childhood education for most of her career, she has kept in touch with many of her students and their families long after they've moved on.

"Parents will call years and years later and say, 'Look at this report card! Talk to him!' "

The Children's Center is almost hidden in plain sight on the grounds of the Nuuanu Congregational Church. It is not a school that loudly announces itself, but inspires lifelong devotion. This goes for Bristow as well, who says after 35 years, she has no plans for retirement.

"I'll never retire. I never thought of this as a job. There's so much more to learn," she says. "I feel that I was born to be a teacher. This is my mission. I never played house as a child. I always played school."

The school has a staff of 10 with 60 students in three classrooms. Many of the students live far away, as far as Hauula, Kapolei and Waimänalo, but their parents work in town.

This week, paper pinwheels stood lined up in the sun and boxes of supplies were stacked in corners out of the children's way. The campus is gearing up for their big fundraising event. The Holiday Faire will be tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the school. There will be crafts and baked goods, games, food, a plant sale and entertainment. It is the 25th anniversary of the event, and Bristow is hoping the day will bring even more alumni to the campus.

"We want to know where everybody is, as many as possible," she said, even though she already stays in touch with many of her families. "At Christmas time, we get so many pictures."