Michael L. Kluemper began his study of Japanese language in 1987 as an art education student, initially to learn more about the people who created the ceramics which he was so interested in. Kluemper has been teaching about Japanese language and culture since that time, including both Japanese language and visual arts at Jasper High School, Jasper, IN since 1999. As a board member for the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers from 2001-08, Kluemper served as president, newsletter editor and on national task forces for the implementation of a Japanese AP course, National Board Certification for teachers, and various advocacy campaigns. He has been involved in long-term planning committees for the council as well as ACTFL (The American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages), and was a member of the first AP Japanese Test Development Committee. He is a College Board Consultant for the AP Japanese program has presented on various issues from advocacy to aligning courses to standards at conferences across the country. Lisa Berkson has been teaching Japanese language at the high school level for eight years. Her introduction to Japan came as a Rotary Club exchange student in high school.

She returned to Japan after earning her B.A. from Georgetown University, and spent two years in Kyoto, studying Japanese and teaching English. Subsequently, she entered the M.A. program in Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. For the next several years she worked in related fields, including as a proofreader for the Japanese version of Time magazine, as a tour guide, and as a freelance technical translator, before returning to graduate school to earn her teaching certificate. She led the Japanese language program at Warren Central High School, in Indianapolis, IN for seven years, and during that time worked actively with the Association of Indiana Teachers of Japanese.

AITJ honored her by nominating her for Japanese language teacher of the year in 2007. She currently teaches Japanese and Chinese language classes at Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona, and is president-elect of the Arizona Association of Teachers of Japanese.