Request from Japan America Society of Washington
Japan Society Round-up 
Comments Off on Request from Japan America Society of Washington
Via JETAA Pacific Northwest. Mark Smith, the Executive Director of the Japan America Society of the State of Washington, is seeking feedback from JET alums and Friends of JET who, when they were younger, may have participated in the organization’s education programs in schools throughout the state of Washington. Please contact Mark directly to offer feedback.
Dear JET Alumni and current JET Program Participants:
My name is Mark Smith and I am Executive Director of the Japan America Society of the State of Washington. As some of you may already know, one of our core programs here at the Society is our Japan in the Schools program. This is an educational program driven by volunteers who visit elementary schools and high schools.
In the elementary classroom, a day in the life of Kentaro is brought to life through a large format photo presentation that engages the students in exploring similarities and differences between American and Japanese children’s lives. Students are also taught some Japanese words and they have trying to pick up mini erasers (which they get to keep) with chopsticks.
Our high school visits are primarily to Japanese language classes. We coordinate with the classroom teacher so that the students will have an opportunity to pre-learn standard phrases and vocabulary that they might encounter in the following situations: Visiting someone’s home, shopping, and going to a restaurant. Our volunteers then role-play with the students in these situations giving them the chance to practice their Japanese with native speakers.
Since its creation in 1994 and thanks to the dedication and generous support of volunteers and donors, the Japan in the Schools Program has been presented to over 30,000 area students.
We are very curious to find out if any of you participated as a student in the Japan in the Schools program when you were in elementary or high school. If you did and are willing to share your experience, please contact me at 206-374-0180 or send me an e-mail at msmith@us-japan.org. We would very much like to know what influence this program may have had on you and your decision to join the JET program and/or continue learning about Japan and the Japanese language.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Mark Smith
Comments are closed.