Record of Our Activities

On January 26th, SGH and SSH students held an event to present their research project.  About 100 students’ parents and educators from in and out of Ishikawa Prefecture took part in this event.

＊SG Basic Analytical Skills: a school-designated subject for first-year students in general course
Students looked into the goals of institutions like the UN and relevant institutions, and considered current issues related to them.  They also proposed the possibility that technology would contribute to their fields when delivering their poster presentations.  This was their first time presenting their research, but they were very positive in the question-and-answer sessions.

＊Practical English: a school-designated subject for second-year students in SG course
Students talked about how to make Izumi-gaoka High School better, explained and wrote logically their ideas and opinions about them in English.

＊SGH×SSH Oral Presentation by second-year students in SG course and Super Science course
Representative teams had oral presentations about their research as a collaboration project between SG and SS course students.  They exchanged their opinions and had question-and-answer sessions.  So far, they had mutual presentations and exchanged information while they engaged each other.  This time again they actively exchanged their opinions about their research fields.

＊SG Poster Presentation about their research by second-year students in SG course
Second-year SG course students delivered poster presentations about their research from the beginning of the school year.  Three graduate students from Kyoto University gave valuable comments and advice.  The students will have a presentation in English in July.

＊Research Conference for teachers who visited the conference
We told teachers about SGH activities, our results and our problems.  We are going to make the most of the questions and advice from teachers in order to make SGH activities better for now on.

From December 25th to 27th, the ‘Global Leadership Program’ was held, in which the students had discussions with foreign students from universities, and gave presentations in front of them.  The participants looked nervous at first, but had confidence by the final day.

[the participants’ comments]
＊I want to improve my communication skills when using English.
＊I have more confidence than ever.
＊I had an experience of having myself understood in English with a person from a foreign country.
＊I came to like English better than ever and I am glad I joined this program.

On December 14th, six teams of students from the second year Liberal Arts course gave a presentation in front of 120 students.  The top three teams will automatically be the representatives for our school in the NSH Meeting for Reading Research Papers scheduled to be held on January 31st.

On December 9th, all the first year students participated in the Discussion Day.  We invited 37 foreign guests from different countries around the world.  The students were put into a group of 3~5 students, and had conversations on the similarities and the differences between Japan and the foreign guest’s country.  It was a great opportunity for the students to use their English communication skills they acquired in class.

[the participants’ comments]
＊I was able to understand what the foreign guests were saying, and I was able to make myself understood in English.
＊I was able to have conversations with people from various countries like Indonesia and China.  I feel more confident than ever speaking English.

On November 22nd, fifteen graduate students from Kanazawa University were invited for the SG Research Interim Report.  Each research team gave a presentation in front of two graduate students and our students were given valuable advice afterwards.

[the participants’ comments]
＊We were able to learn many things like presentation skills and know-hows for questionnaires.

On November 3rd, all the second year students participated in sessions to learn what it is like to be a member of the society.  The guests working in twelve different fields of occupation were invited to give lectures.

On November 3rd, all the first year students participated in sessions with university students to learn presentation skills.  The guest speakers were all graduates of our school and they gave lectures on how to give an effective presentation by using PowerPoint slides showing their school life in each of their universities.

On October 13th, 37 first-year and second-year students participated in a lecture given by a graduate student from Kyoto University majoring in Studies of Asian and African Regions.  The topic of the lecture was “Names”.  The students were able to learn about the differences between Japan and the country of Uganda through this lecture.

[the participants’ comments]
＊It was surprising to learn that in Uganda there are names that originated from words like “Poor” and “Rich”.

＊It was hard to understand the culture of Uganda at first, but I realized that the life I’m living today is not the standard compared to the life around the world.

On September 15th, four students who studied abroad using “トビタテ留学JAPAN” had the chance to talk about their experiences abroad.  30 students participated in it, and learned what it means to study abroad, and got the image of life and education in foreign countries.

From August 20th to 26th, an event called “AEON 1% Club – Asian Youth Leaders” was held in Tokyo.  Three students from the second-year SG course participated.  The topic of conference this year was “Food & Health”.  High school students from six Asian countries gathered to have discussions on the topic.
[the participants’ comments]
＊I became friends with people from foreign countries.  I was able to understand the differences in religions and cultures.
＊Thanks to this program, I understood that the world I knew was just a portion of it.

From August 3rd to 7th, four students from the third-year SG course participated in this event held in Tokyo.  The theme of the conference was “Sustainable City & Community”.  High school students from Japan, China and Korea participated and had discussions in English.

[the participants’ comments]
＊There were times when I was not able to express myself in English.  However, when I was able to, it gave me a lot of confidence. 
＊Before joining this program, I assumed the high school students from China and Korea had some kind of hatred toward Japanese, but I found out that this assumption was not true as I had conversations with them.

On July 14th, the third year students of the SGH course had 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 teacher around the country and foreign guests.  Professor Shigeru Matsumoto of Rikkyo University and foreign exchange students from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Kanazawa University were invited to the sessions.  The people who watched and listened to the presentation gave positive comments like: “The students looked very confident when they were answering questions during the Q&A sessions”, “Most of the research consisted factors from the SDGs and were amazing”.
  
【Comments from students】
・It was our first time working and doing research on the same theme for more than a year and half.  There were tough times, but we came to realize each other’s characteristics and started to respect each other.  We were able to experience things, which were impossible if we worked on it by ourseleves.
・At first, I had difficulty explaining things in English.  There were even times when I had difficulties explaining things in Japanese.  However, now that I have finished giving the presentation for my research, I can say this with confidence.  “If the listeners feel that you are trying hard to get the message across, they will try hard to understand you.  So don’t give up.”

On July 14th, after the presentations by the third year students, the second year SG course students had an empowerment program where they explained and asked for advice from the foreign guests on the project they are working on.  This session was done in English. 
 
【Comments from students】
   ・I was able to get my message across to the foreign guests.  I will like to improve my English skills so that in the future, I can ask and answer questions smoothly in English.
   ・The foreign guests listened to our presentation and asked many questions.  We are grateful for their questions and advice.  We were also inspired by the way the guests were actively asking questions.