CHS students travel to Japan

In the middle of April of this year, Mrs. Yaeko McNeir, the Cabot High School Japanese facilitator was contacted with an incredible offer. Her classes were invited to participate in a program called the Kizuna Project (Bonds of Friendship).

It was a new initiative which provides for a fully funded two-week study tour to Japan. Kizuna is administered by The Laurasian Institution, The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, Japan International Cooperation Center and Japan-U.S. Educational Commission.

A dream come true, the offer was extended to exactly 23 students and 2 chaperones from each invited school, 1000 participants in total from across the nation. Since the number of available Japanese language students from Cabot High School was limited, several students were recommended by other teachers to complete the required number.

The purpose of the program is to promote understanding of Japan's recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 among the U.S., to encourage greater understanding between the youth of Japan and the United States and foster long-term and ongoing interest in one another by providing firsthand experiences with the culture of the other.

There were several phases in the 14 day program. The first involved a deep immersion in the effects of the Great Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami of March 3, 2011. During this phase, students were educated about the causes and effects of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, visited the effected areas in the Tohoku region, and met individuals who were victims.

A Tokyo study tour was followed by a trip to Yokohama where students enjoyed a short visit and home stay with a host student and family in a Japanese high school. Our partner school was Yokohama High School for International Studies. There the CHS students were greeted on the afternoon we arrived with special programs given by the Yokohama students. They shadowed their student hosts through some of their classes the following day. Each student spent two nights
with their host family.

The last phase of the program involved visits to Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka, Japan. Through tours of temples, castles and museums, the students were introduced to the historic culture of Japan including its arts and traditions. Throughout the visit, students experienced varieties of traditional Japanese food and learned about cultural conventions in Japan.

CHS participants : Nicholas Dunaway, Grant Reed, Mark Kingan, Wylie Holitik, Timothy DeNomie, Will Gambill, Waylon Moses, Cameron Asselin, Drew Yates, Sandra Cookro, Amber Roderick, Kristin Scott, Anna Applegate, Kelsey Miller, Nikki West, Melissa Mosqueda, Melenda Ros, Jessica Long, Codee Park, Margaret Abegglen, Morgan Gurke, Jessica Lawley and Jordan Lakin. Chaperones: Yaeko McNeir and Helen Goodman.