Contact: Sammy McDavid
Nine middle and high school teachers from around the state are involved in a very special workshop through July 3--and in Japan, no less.
They are participants in the Teaching about Japan Program organized by Mississippi State University. The Mississippi group departed Wednesday [June 19] for a whirlwind three-part tour.
Program director Rick Travis, an associate professor of political science, said MSU was awarded a three-year grant in 2000 by the United States-Japan Foundation of New York City to coordinate the program for Mississippi.
"The purpose of the workshop is to help leading teachers increase their ability to transmit knowledge about Japan in an informed and appropriate manner," Travis said. "Ultimately, their students will benefit through increased knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture, politics, economics, and social relations."
To prepare them for the tour, MSU held two workshops over the past two years for nearly 30 interested educators. From this group, nine were selected to make a study tour of the island nation and world economic powerhouse that is home to more than 127 million people.
Tour participants were selected on the quality of their applications, including essays and letters of recommendation. They are being accompanied by Phil Bonfanti of MSU's Division of Continuing Education and foreign languages faculty member Chitose Little, a native of Japan.
Describing the multi-stage trip, Travis said the first four days will be spent traveling to and touring the capital of Tokyo. "Included in this phase will be visits to a number of historic and political sites, art museums, the Ginza shopping district, Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo Stock Exchange, and Asahi Shinbun newspaper company," he added.
Accommodations for the inaugural portion of the trip are being provided by Meisei University, MSU's sister institution since the 1980s.
During the tour's second phase, the teachers will visit Meisei for lectures and discussions led by university faculty members there. They also will travel to a local junior/senior high school to get a feel for classes that began in April.
The final leg of the trip will begin in Hiroshima, where the teachers will tour the Peace Memorial and site of the World War II atomic bomb blast. In Kyoto, they will see the old imperial palace and several famous temples and, in Nara, experience the birthplace of the emperor system that remains in place, if not in authority, to this day.
Participating teachers include (by hometown):
BRANDON--Renee Tullos, an advance placement United States history and comparative politics teacher at Brandon High School.
HERNANDO--Amy Weddle, a world history teacher at Horn Lake High School.
JACKSON--Evelyn G. Araujo of the Mississippi School for the Deaf Middle School.
MERIDIAN--Marsha Iverson, an art teacher at Northwest High School.
RIDGELAND--Roxanna Arcement, a world geography teacher at Sumner Hill Junior High School in Clinton.
STARKVILLE--Marty Friend, a U.S. history teacher, and Carolyn Goodman, a world geography teacher, both at Starkville High School.
SUMNER--Richard Welborn, a seventh-grade teacher at West Tallahatchie High School in Webb.
WAYNESBORO--Ginny L. Crager, a humanities teacher at Wayne County High School.