Toride Shoyo High School Begins Sister School Relationship
with Maryknoll High School

On November 30, 2010, 10 students and two teachers from Toride Shoyo High School in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan arrived in Honolulu to begin their week and a half long stay. The group spent their first day visiting the USS Missouri, Hawaii Plantation Village, and the National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl Cemetery). On December 1 they were greeted with aloha at the Welcome Party arranged by the students and faculty of Maryknoll High School's Japanese language classes. Here, the students from Toride met their host sisters and brothers and were introduced to delicious local dishes at the potluck. Throughout the next nine days, their busy schedule included field trips to the Okage Sama De gallery tour at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, art gallery tours and a campus tour at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, paying respects at the Arizona Memorial, experiencing Chinatown, taking photos at the Kamehameha Statue and Iolani Palace, shopping at Waikele, and meeting the staff at the Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH). On days where there no outings scheduled, Toride students accompanied their host sisters and brothers during the school day, attending classes and experiencing Hawaii's educational system. During the evenings and weekend, students enjoyed spending time with their host families touring the island and participating in various activities.

The students, host families, and faculty of Maryknoll High School's Japanese language classes organized a potluck-style Farewell Party for the Toride group on the evening of December 8, 2010 in Maryknoll High School's Rogers Hall. Maryknoll students performed the hula, played the ukulele, and showcased a few break dancing routines! Toride students played the piano, dressed in kimono, presented their PowerPoint presentation about their school, and joined in on the dancing!

Before they knew it, it was time for the Toride students and teachers to board their plane on Friday, December 10, 2010. Many tears were shed between the Maryknoll and Toride students who could now call each other friends. As they exchanged omiyage (souvenirs) and waved goodbye, the students shouted, "See you next year!" to their new tomodachi (friends) and smiled with tears in their eyes and fond memories to take with them. Next year Maryknoll High School is planning on visiting Toride High School as the next step in the sister school relationship.

JASH facilitated and arranged this sister school relationship program and participated in many of the cultural activities and events. If you are interested in learning more about this program, please contact Kelsey Soma Turek via email at ksoma@jashawaii.org or via phone at 524-4450.

Toride Shoyo High School students and teachers learn the shaka with JASH President Ed Hawkins and Educational Program Director Kelsey Soma Turek.

Sister Schools Relationship Program

During the first week of August 2007, 20 students and 4 teachers from Kin Junior High School in Okinawa visited Kapolei Middle School under the Society's Sister School Relationship Program. Through this program, generously funded by the Freeman Foundation, the Society seeks to establish long-lasting sister school relationships between middle schools in Hawaii and junior high schools in Japan. The students from Kin JHS were each paired with a student from Kapolei and attended classes with them to see firsthand what school is like in Hawaii. However, the learning did not end once school was finished; the Kin JHS students also spent the week doing a homestay with their hosts, allowing them to directly experience what life with a local family is like. In addition, the students and their hosts took a number of field trips to learn more about the island and its culture. Places they visited include: Dole Plantation, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Hawaii Okinawa Center, Waipahu Cultural Garden, and a specially arranged tour of the USS Arizona Memorial. This experience gave students of both schools exposure to different cultures and different perspectives, a fundimental goal of the Society for this program. During their visit, a signing ceremony was conducted at Kapolei Middle School, officially establishing its relationship with Kin Junior High School. In attendance were JASH President Ed Hawkins; Hawaii State Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Clayton Fujie, Complex Area Superintendent (Campbell/Kapolei/Waianae) Mamo Carreira, Kapolei Middle School Principal Annette Nishikawa, Kin Junior High School Principal Toshitaka Kishimoto, and Kin Town BOE Superintendent Hajime Nakama. The signing ceremony also featured karate and Okinawan dance performance by the Kin JHS students. In November 2007, the Kapolei host students made a reciprocal visit to Okinawa to complete the Sister School Program. The signing ceremony showed that the schools are committed to continuing the relationship well into the future. The Society's Sister School Relationship Program, made possible by a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation, is designed to establish long-term sister school relationships between middle schools in Hawaii, and junior high schools in Japan. For each pair of sister schools selected we have a basic three-year plan. During the first year, a delegation of teachers and administrators from the Hawaii school will visit their counterparts in Japan. This will be followed by a reciprocal visit by a similar group from the Japanese school to Hawaii. In this way, the teachers and administrators on both sides will become familiar with each other, leading to a stronger relationship and better collaboration. At the conclusion of these visits and signing of agreements, the sister school relationship will officially begin. In the second year, the Hawaii school will send a delegation of 20 students for a week-long trip to Japan, followed by a reciprocal visit by Japanese students to Hawaii during the third year. Both the Hawaii and Japanese students will spend a portion of their journey doing a home stay. Throughout the relationship, the schools will engage in activities such as pen-pal or e-pal projects, joint internet projects, and other such exchanges. JASH will provide complete funding for the first three years, after which the schools will continue the relationship on their own. We expect the relationships formed between the schools will last for many years to come, but more importantly we expect that the friendships between the students will last a lifetime -- the seeds for an ongoing U.S.-Japan relationship. Sister school relationships established: Kawananakoa Middle School (Honolulu) & Uwajima Minami Junior High School (Ehime) Kapolei Middle School (Kapolei) & Kin Junior High School (Okinawa)

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