The
Association of Metro Edmonton Japanese Community School
PresidentŐs Message
By
Makoto Osawa
The
Annual General Meeting was held on April 8th and the members of the
new Executive Committee are as follows:
President: Makoto
Osawa
Vice
President: Masahito
Oba
2nd
Vice President: Tatsuya Kin
Treasurer: Enko
Matsumoto
Secretary: Mieko
Fedrau
Committee Members:
Atsuko Hill, Megan Jones,
Sachiko Motoda
Information
and decisions from the meeting will be posted in front of the library.
Regarding other positions, Riyoko Shimizu will continue in the library, and Setsuko
Dunwald will continue in the office. Also, Scott Sutton will continue as our
representative for the Heritage Festival. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Terry McLean will continue to translate the school newsletter.
Thank
you to all the members of last yearŐs Executive Committee for your hard work.
Yumiko McLean acted as treasurer for two years, and she volunteered in the undokai
and many other
events. Satoshi Shimizu worked as
a committee member and led the undokai and the gakugeikai. Elaine Tani and Ning Meng
were also committee members and contributed greatly to the running of our
school. We appreciate your efforts and cooperation.
Well, as president, IŐll end with my goal
for this year: ŇSchool management with participation from all.Ó
PrincipalŐs
Message
By
Sanae Ohki
It has
quickly become warm in Edmonton. Before long the grass will be green and the
spring flowers will be blooming. The school opening ceremony was held on April
8th, followed by the start of a new term. This year we have a total
of 52 registered students in the following grades: junior kindergarten,
kindergarten (2), elementary grades 1-5, and junior high 7 and 9. We received
new textbooks from Japan, and the students have started the new term with lots
of energy.
I
encourage all parents to work together with the teachers in support of the
studentsŐ learning. Parent-teacher meetings for each class will be held at the
end of April and in early May. The teachers will explain goals, expectations,
homework, and so on; also, if parents have any questions, please feel free to
ask. I hope these meetings will be meaningful and set the year off to a good
start.
This
year we have started a new three-part program for learning kanji.
1.
Akaneko
Kanji Skill -
This book, which follows the textbooks, will replace last yearŐs Kanji Drill. We will hand out the new
books to the students, and the teachers will use the books as a resource in
class and assign homework accordingly.
2.
Kakijun
Print (for
grades 1-6) - These resources are for parents to use at home to help the
children learn to write well. Please use them according to your childŐs level
and rate of progress.
3.
Kanji
no Tatsujin ni Naru Zo! - This is a program that was developed by the teachers. In Kanji no
Yomi Challenge,
the goal is to encourage the students to review kanji they have learned, and to help
them increase vocabulary. The students will be tested on all of the kanji they have learned since grade
one - right up to their current grade. The passing score is 80%. If the
students get below this score, they will be encouraged to keep studying at
their own pace. The leaders of this project are Nagakura-sensei, Oba-sensei,
and Tsuneda-sensei. Thank you to all of the teachers.
From the Executive
1.
Our
eagerly-awaited computerized library system is finally up and running. No doubt
there will be some bugs to work out, so thank you in advance for your
cooperation. Ohki Kocho-sensei contributed greatly to the computerization
process, so if you get a chance, please relay your thanks.
2.
Recently
there has been a little too much noise in the background during general
meetings and school events. Parents with small children, please make sure that
your young ones are not being a disturbance.
3.
The
toban
duties have changed slightly. Please have a look at the attached sheet.
4.
As
the days are getting longer, more students are spending recess time outside in
the playground. Please make sure that the children know that they should take
off their shoes and shake out the sand - outside – before entering the
school. LetŐs try to keep the school clean. The toban will watch at the entrance to
make sure the students follow the rules.
From
the Library –
Riyoko Shimizu
On
April 22nd, we finally completed the computerization of our library.
In order to set up the bar code system, many people volunteered during the
spring break. Special thanks go out to Kocho-sensei, Tsuneda-sensei,
Oba-sensei, Yamada-sensei, Katayama-san, Hill-san, Dunwald-san, Kaide-san,
Kin-san, McLean-san, Osawa-san, Ishida-san, Hayashi-san, Ohori-san,
Watanabe-san, Stein-san, Matsumoto-san, Ramsey-san, Kikuchi-san, Kondo-san, and
Brittany-san. We are still learning how to use the system so there are bound to
be a few inconveniences. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Borrowing and Returning Books
Returning
books: Place
the books in the return bin (you cannot renew a book until after it has been
returned).
Borrowing
books (students):
Take the books to the computer desk, say your name and grade, and show the
librarian the bar codes. The librarian will scan the codes and your name and
list of borrowed items will appear on the computer screen.
For
adults, please take and replace books as we have always done.
People
who are toban,
after 8:00, please help out in the returning of the books to shelves.
The computer menu for the new system is
attached to this newsletter. The functions listed are what we are able to use
at the moment. We will be adding/fixing things as we go. Please stop by the
library and have a look.
Japan Overseas Educational Services – Submissions
The
monthly publication of Japan
Overseas Educational Services is seeking submissions
through its website. They are asking for articles (from both children and
adults) in Japanese (approx. 600 characters) on the topic of museums around the
world. For more information, please look at their website:
http://www.joes.or.jp
E-mail: kikanshi@joes.or.jp
First Term Schedule
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April-05 |
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May-05 |
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school |
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school |
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school |
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school |
Kagai
jugyo |
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June-05 |
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Kagai
jugyo |
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school |
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school |
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* kagai jugyo - subject
to change
Parent
Shifts (Toban) for May and June
April 29 Fedrau,
Frankiewicz
May 6 Osawa,
Ohori
May 13 Ito,
Stein
May 20 Matsumoto,
Watanabe
May 27 Jones,
Morita
June 3 Chen,
Kondo
June 10 Kobayashi,
Brechin
June 17 Oh,
Yamamoto
June 24 Motoda,
Van
The
number of families on the list for sharing the toban duties this year is 29
(including 3 new families, and excluding teachers and people who have
volunteered for other duties). It may seem that your turn to be toban again has come around more
quickly. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
If you
need to make a change in the toban schedule, please contact Setsuko Dunwald
(437-3457). Thanks for your cooperation in helping the school run smoothly.
Setsuko
Dunwald
Japanese Summer Camp
We are
starting a committee for the Japanese Summer Camp that was brought up at the
last general meeting. If things work out, and depending on the needs of the
students, this summer we may be able to put it together. If you have experience
with or interest in this type of activity, please contact a member of the
executive committee.
Mieko
Fedrau
The Community
School News is printed
in the fourth week of each month. If you have any questions and/or comments,
please let us know.
Translated by Terry
McLean