Record of Our Activities

Five schools designated as New Super High Schools (known as NSH), Izumigaoka, Nanao, Sakuragaoka, Nisui and Komatsu, gathered at Ishikawa Industrial Promotion Center.  The highlight was the presentations by the selected teams of each school and Suisei High School, which was invited as a special guest presenter.  We sent three groups from Class 22 and 23, which were chosen on Presentation Day in December, to the event.  One student from our school said, “I learned how to organize the content well from Suisei’s presentation.  I found it important to look at the topic from various points of view. ” Another pointed out, “Critical thinking is key in this kind of research project.”  Comments from others who are the same age seem to be helpful as well as stimulating to them.

The students in both SG and SS courses made presentations on January 25th with an audience of about 70 teachers from all over and outside of Ishikawa.  The day started with the presentations of the representative teams from each course, which was followed by heated arguments with pointed questions and good answers.  In the afternoon, poster sessions were held (with SGH in Students’ Hall and SSH in Keisen Auditorium).  This event was a great opportunity for them to think about how they should do further research.

(Voices from students)
When we looked at the poster we made, we were impressed because in April and May, we hadn’t been expecting to achieve this much. I am thankful for other group members, who are hardworking and supportive.  We worked hard even after school and had a hard time, but we feel very satisfied. This is not the end of our research.  The advice we received today was specific and unexpected, so we have found that there is much left to be improved in our research project. 

Three high schools (Kanazawa university High School, Kanazawa Nisui High School and Kanazawa Izumigaoka High school) met in the gym of Kanazawa University H.S. on January 12th.  SG-course students and two groups from Class 22 made presentations on what they had worked on for the past year.

Fifteen Izumigaoka students participated in an empowerment Program, where they enjoyed discussions with exchange students in English for three days. Some students from Kanazawa University High School also joined in the program.  The participants looked nervous on the first day, but they talked about their dreams very proudly in the presentations on the last day.

Twenty three Princeton High school students visited us on November 6th and experienced the high school life of Japanese students for two days, after traveling in Kyoto and Hiroshima. On the first day of their visit, they played games and enjoyed chatting with Izumigaoka students.  The performance of Calligraphy Club students also impressed them.  On the second day, they joined the classes that their host buddies are taking, such as calligraphy, and experienced what Japanese high school life is like. They spent two nights with the families that volunteered. 

On October 19th, Runa Yamamori, a graduate student in Kyoto University, was invited to our school and talked about the environmental issues related to the sea by using the various pictures of sea creatures she caught all over Japan.  The students were impressed by her words, “If we can successfully prove the biodiversity, it will be helpful in protecting the environment.”  She welcomed a lot of questions from the students, ranging from about the frequency of her fieldworks to how parasitized creatures “feel” about their situation. 

In October, 2nd-year students in the SGH course visited the U.S.A. for about a week.  They made presentations at Princeton High School, Princeton University and Eco-village in Ithaca about their research projects. Through the discussions, they got new ideas from more global perspectives. They learned a lot in talking with many Americans and staying with American families, which made their stay more memorable and inspiring for their future.

(Voices from the students)
●In the presentations we made at Princeton High School, Princeton University and Ithaca, we had a very fruitful experience and were glad that we were able to get completely new ideas from high school or university students there and the residents in the village, which will be helpful in our future research.  In Ithaca, they have a similar traffic problem to ours, and gave us a useful suggestion such as pedestrians wearing reflective vests that will possibly protect them from getting involved in an accident.
 
●Ms.Yusui and Ms.Kawamori are good role models to me.  I learned that setting a goal and finding something that I can be enthusiastic about were very important.  Ms.Yusui said that she never gave up working hard because she had a goal of standing on the Broadway stage.  Ms.Kawamori had a passion to study abroad and learn about international relations.  Even if you have hardships, you can continue to work hard if you have a concrete dream to realize and a strong passion.

●We were asked why we chose the theme almost every time we made presentations, which was quite surprising to us.  It was a pity that we were not able to answer it clearly.  We made use of this experience in Ithaca and enjoyed the discussions.

On July 18th, Mr. Ryobun Santou from Musashi High School was invited to give a lecture on the SDGs.  All the first-year students and the second-year students in the SG course were able to listen to the lecture.
  
In the lecture, the first-year students ate and compared the chocolates that are made by using palm oil and chocolate that are made without palm oil.  Through the lecture, the students learned the situations in the Borneo Island where there are sides: people who want to save the rainforest and people who want to increase the area of palm oil plantation for profit.
  
The second-year students in the SG course played “2030 SDGs Game” and imagined an ideal world in the future.

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The second-year students in the SG course planned “Omotenahi: How to Welcome People” Project on July 14th for the foreign guests who participated in the Final Presentation the day before.
   
This year’s guide plan was inspired by the workshop that the students participate in June.  The theme for this year’s project were “COLOR”, “TIME”, “WATER” and “SOUND”.  The students and guests were divided into four groups according to the theme.
   
The “SOUND” group took guests to places where they can listen and play an instrument called “Shamisen”.

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On July 13th, the third year students of the SGH course gave their final presentation.  They have worked on their project for more than a year and a half and they did their final presentation in front of many teacher and foreign guests around the nation.  Not only did they give a presentation on their research, but they also participated in the Q&A session and answered the questions in English. 

The people who watched and listened the presentation gave positive comments like: “We were surprise to see the students keep on having a conversation with the foreign guests after each question.” or “The students were doing their presentation seriously but also had some sense of humor”.

During a short break, the students had some time to chat with the foreign guest and learned a bit about foreign cultures.

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