During the first week of August, 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, the Kapolei host students will make 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)