Community School News

President’s Message

By Makoto Osawa

Our annual gakugeikai was a great success. Thank you to all of the teachers and parents. The students were full of energy as all of their hard work shone in the performances.

A big thank you goes out to Tsuneda-sensei (teacher rep.), Motoda-san (parents rep.), the parents, and all of the volunteers who helped out with the event. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Chen once again are kindly putting together the video and photographs. We are looking forward to the finished products. Once they are ready, these items will be available in the library.

If you have any comments regarding the gakugeikai, please let the board know so that we can consider them when organizing next year’s event.

As we are already into December, there are only a few more classes left this year. The first day back next year is January 13^th. See you then for a fresh start to the new year. Enjoy the winter break.

Principal’s Message

By Sanae Ohki

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we had a wonderful gakugeikai. Not only was it entertaining but also it was a good opportunity for the students to improve their Japanese language skills.

In December we are having parent-teacher meetings and talking about learning goals for the third term. I believe that these meetings give the teachers and parents the chance to work together to help develop each student’s strong areas. Parents can share some of their thoughts and/or let the teachers know how their children are doing with their studies at home. It is vital to the success of our school to have good communication between the teachers and parents as we see in our school credo: family and school – working together to help our students develop their Japanese language skills.

The last class in this calendar year is December 16^th, and the first day of classes next year is January 13^th. Families have many Christmas and New Year’s plans throughout the year-end break. Please try to use Japanese as you enjoy these times. Also, along with doing a little Japanese homework, writing Christmas/New Year greetings to Japanese family and friends can be a great learning activity. Please don’t forget your Japanese – try to use the kanji that you have learned. Enjoy the winter break.

School Manager Wanted

We are looking for someone who to fill the position of School Manager on a long-term basis. Duties of this position include: dealing with the Edmonton Public School Board; dealing with the Consular General’s office and the Japanese Ministry of Education; looking after and doing inventory of school textbooks and teaching materials; dealing with volunteers and parent shift personnel; collecting fees; and updating the school name list. A work permit is necessary for this position. If you are interested, please contact Makoto Osawa (Tel: 432-3146 – or - email: gakko@telsu.net).

Naohito Oba

New Students

The following students have joined our school. Please make them fell welcome.

Hoshi-san Kindergarten (Sakaguchi-sensei)

Simon Kondo Kindergarten (Sakaguchi-sensei)

Asahi Kondo Kindergarten (Inoue-sensei)

From the Library

On December 16^th we are doing an inventory of book returns. Books borrowed before November 25^th are due on December 9^th. Please check at home for any books or videos that you have forgotten to return. If you have any books or videos that are overdue, please bring them back by December 16^th. After updating our records, a list will be given to those who have materials still overdue.

The lending policy during the school terms is three books per person and three videos per family. The lending period is two weeks. Winter break is coming; the time off is long so we will be letting members borrow more materials than usual. Please send the students to the library with a big bag. Thank you.

Riyoko Shimuzu, Librarian

Gakugeikai

The gakugeikai went off without a hitch. Relief, relief, relief. Since April I have been a board member, and before I knew it, a smiling Osawa-san was making the request to me and the parent representatives: “Gakugeikai, onegaishimasu.” When the preparations began, as with every year, points of concern popped up, but thanks to all of the teachers and parents, we were able to overcome each worry one by one. Thank you for all of your cooperation.

At the gakugeikai, I watched the plays and thought that they all shone like jewels of Japanese culture/art (including the mothers’ chorus, of course!). Watching, listening to, and feeling the plays live, I heard members of the audience share their impressions; it made me proud to see the results of the hard work of everyone involved. The event was as great as seeing the smiles on the faces of the children.

Sachiko Motoda (Gakugei-kai Organizer)

Kanji no Tatsujin

In April of this year, we started the Kanji no Tatsujin program, and now we have lots of tatsujin (masters). Wonderful. It’s OK if you make mistakes; it’s OK is you do it little by little; you can take the challenge as many times as you want. Set your goal to be a tatsujin – you can do it!

Here is a list of tastujin as of Nov. 25^th:

Kanji no Tastujin – First Year – Congratulations!

Grade 2 Marina Ito

Ayumi Kikuchi

Yuko Fedrau

Toshiya Matsumoto

Kenta Watanabe

Tamao Takita

Jasmine Jackson

Keita Yamazoe

Karin Yamada

Grade 3 Marin Osawa

Maya Kaide

Sara Shimizu

Sheri Chen

Grade 4 Yuki Ito

Rikizo Kin

Maki Oba

Grade 5 Geio Oh

Anna Kaide

Hikari Kikuchi

Jenny Zhang

Ky McLean

JHS 1 Emma Gerard

Yiming Liu

Mio Dunwald

JHS 3 Eileen Ramsey

Jaimie Chen

Kanji no Tastujin – Second Year – Congratulations!

Grade 4 Rikizo Kin

JHS 1 Emma Gerard

Yiming Liu

JHS 3 Mio Dunwald

Eileen Ramsey

Jaimie Chen

Kanji no Tastujin – Third Year – Congratulations!

JHS 3 Mio Dunwald

Eileen Ramsey

Kanji no Tastujin – Fourth Year – Congratulations!

JHS 3 Mio Dunwald

Parent Shifts (Toban) for November and December

12/09 – Yamamoto; Swallow

12/16 – Motoda; Liu

1/13 – McLean; Hoshi

1/20 – Ohori; Frankiewicz

1/27 – Osawa; Kawamoto

2/3 – Kaide; Kobayashi

2/10 – Chen; Kondo

2/17 – Fedrau; Masuda

2/24 – Kin; Takahashi

If you need to make a change in the schedule, please contact Setsuko Dunwald (437-3457).

Bellmark Educational Grant

After getting home from school on November 25^th, I opened my email and got some delightful news: we will receive teaching/learning materials worth 200,000 yen from Bellmark Educational Grant. The focus is to be on kindergarten. The claim for materials had to be sent in by November 29^th, so I quickly checked the needs list that we prepared in the summer and ordered books geared for kindergarten. Our school was recommended as a recipient by Iwaki-san, who, as an advisor from the Japanese Ministry of Education, visited us in September. I sent a message of thanks. I am looking forward to getting the new materials.

Sanae Ohki

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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

Community School News November/December 2005