Education United States Project #21335

Help 2000 students from US & Japan connect online!

by Kizuna Across Cultures

Project Report | May 15, 2017
Continuing to connect U.S. and Japanese students

By Ikuko Karacsony | Program Officer

Center for Global Studies in Connecticut

We are in the midst of preparing for the 2017-18 Global Classmates program! In this 6^th year of the program we received a record number of 126 applications from high school teachers all across Japan and the U.S.! We are thrilled for the increased recognition of our program and the many wonderful teachers who have applied. It will be difficult to choose just 60 high schools to participate this year!

While the teachers who apply for the program come from all different backgrounds and teach at schools of all sizes, regions, and academic circumstances, they all share a common passion to provide their students with a unique opportunity to connect with their peers abroad and gain practical language skills. Through the exit survey we conduct at the end of the program, we see that the teachers’ expectations are being met and we are making a real impact on the program’s three pillars: cultural exchange, collaborative language learning, and fostering international friendship.

Roughly 90% of students from this past year’s program agreed that participating in Global Classmates increased their knowledge about each other’s culture; desire to visit the other’s country; motivation to communicate in the foreign language; and desire to further seek international experiences such as study abroad. Even the students who were not very interested in other countries initially began to enjoy finding out about other cultures. Through engaging with people their own age, they began to feel more connected to their partner country and culture. The students also increased their understanding and awareness of their own culture by sharing things about their daily lives and culture, and answering questions using photos.

Below are some quotes from the participants:

I was so excited when I realized that there were people in another country that liked the same things I did. Understanding that even though we come from different countries we can share the same feelings for certain things made me feel a lot closer to them.

I’ve never been able to talk to an American before, but I was able to connect with them, learn about their culture, and in sharing my culture remember the great things about Japan. Also, I didn’t used to like English, but I wanted to communicate with my partner classmates in the U.S. so I began studying English more and more. Now I even want to try and take the English proficiency test. Also, I want to travel abroad now because of what I experienced through Global Classmates.

We are encouraged by the impact the program is proven to have on students and look forward to providing this experience to thousands more students in the years to come. Thank you to all of our supporters and participants who have helped us come this far and provide a truly transformative program for students!

Ueda High School in Nagano, Japan

Virginia Beach City Public Schools Students

Murasakino High School Students in Kyoto, Japan

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Feb 13, 2017
School Visits in Japan Provide Great Insight

By Shanti Shoji | Vice President

U.S. Embassy staff joined our school visit

KAC President, Ayako Smethurst, and I just returned from a fun and productive trip to Japan. We visited eight participating Global Classmates schools and finally got to meet face-to-face with some of this year’s outstanding teachers and students we work with!

On these visits, we learned more about the different ways the Global Classmates program is impacting students and teachers.

For example, a student from Iwaki Midorinomori High School in Fukushima said “I saw a photo of a river that a partner classmate in the U.S. posted and I realized how different even rivers look in America. I really want to go to that river and visit the U.S. now! I didn’t used to like English at all, but now I enjoy it as I realize it’s a tool to connect with people.”

Another student from Inagakuen Sogo High School in Saitama told me, “The English I get to learn and use in Global Classmates is English with feelings – it’s alive. With a textbook, I can’t get that. I only learn set phrases and vocab, for example. But in Global Classmates I’m communicating with teens in the U.S. who are all expressing their feelings using different words, sentence structures, etc., so I get to learn so much. I love it!”

In addition, for the first time we learned how participating in Global Classmates can impact students in the long term. Several students who participated in the 2012-13 program from Fukushima Minami High School in Fukushima were asked by their teacher what they are doing now and if Global Classmates had any long-term effect on them. What we learned is exciting. One student, for example, was so touched that there were people outside of Japan enthusiastically learning Japanese, that he has decided to become a Japanese language teacher in Japan for foreigners. He knew he wanted to be a teacher, but wasn’t sure in what. He credits his experience connecting with and talking to his partner classmates in the U.S. to where he is headed with his future career today.

And finally, like participating students, I could personally experience the joy a friendship forged through the Global Classmates program has. Over the past four years I have gotten to know Kurosawa-sensei through our communications via email and Facebook, as he first began participating in the 2012-13 program. After 4.5 years of only online communication, we could finally meet face-to-face. What a wonderful meeting it was! It reminded me of the powerful connections we can make via online communications, and further instilled in me a passion to provide a similar experience to all those participating in Global Classmates. It is my hope that the students can meet their new friends across the Pacific someday as well and continue to build on the bond they have forged.

KAC President enjoys a conversation with a student

Reading a funny post from their partner classmate

Excited to receive handmade Christmas cards!

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Nov 17, 2016
Students Coming Together for a Cause

By Shanti Shoji | Vice President

"Itadakimasu!" (Let's eat!)

"Sensei, mite mite!!!” (Teacher, look look!!!) proclaimed a student as she proudly held up her large, perfectly formed onigiri (rice ball). Another student, with a smile on his face, was determined to eat his wasabi-covered onigiri that his friends challenged him to gobble up. It’s fair to say the teens had a fun day in Japanese class learning to make onigiri, a traditional homemade Japanese food.

Students participating in Global Classmates have been interacting online in various ways with their partner classmates for a little over two months now. They’ve been discussing different topics such as the music and movies they like, their favorite snacks, and different school events they’ve had this fall. To provide students additional ways to collaborate online, Kizuna Across Cultures partnered this year with the non-profit Table For Two and their Onigiri Action Campaign. For every onigiri photo that students post, five meals will be provided to children in need in Asia and Africa. We at KAC are excited to see how many meals we can send to children in need as a Global Classmates community by the November 30th deadline!

While many Global Classmates students are participating in this fantastic campaign, I was lucky enough to join in on a fun-filled class of making onigiri at Silver Creek High School in San Jose, California! Students made all types of onigiri with a variety of ingredients, some traditionally Japanese, and others very American. There was: tuna mayo (mayonnaise), Spam, teriyaki chicken, umeboshi (pickled plum), and avocado and crab, among others. They were as delicious as they were enjoyable to make! It was a great way for the students to come together as a community for a cause, while getting a hands-on lesson in Japanese culture.

For details about this campaign and to learn how you can participate, check out the Onigiri Action website at: http://jp.tablefor2.org/campaign/onigiri/en/

Perfectly-shaped onigiri (rice ball)

Working together to make some delicious onigiri

Getting ready to eat the wasabi-covered onigiri?!

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