I've posted on IHEC Blog in the past about the exposure my daughter (and son) is getting in her school this academic year to countries, cultures and issues across the globe (see links below). This exposure is not new as it has been happening since she entered the Nursery school. My son is in Kindergarten and in his three years at the school he has learned about such things as Diwali and had Greek celebrations in his classroom.
This morning her class will learn how to make lanterns and in the afternoon they will watch a traditional theatrical performance of Utsushi-e, a classical style of theater that uses lanterns and puppetry!
More on this event today and additional performances this week through Saturday are available here.
Related posts:
The internationalization of Room 404 [a 3rd grade class at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools]
Cranes of Hope For Japan Relief fundraiser
At my daughter's school the 3rd and 4th grades all worked together to fold 1,000 Origami Cranes of Hope to sell at the school to benefit the Red Cross in Japan. The school children raised $5,061.50. The following link is to a video showing a small fraction of the 1,000+ wishes collected from their Cranes of Hope For Japan Relief fundraiser. One of the student's father will deliver the messages of hope to an elementary school affected by the Quake/Tsunami.
If you would like to donate to the Japanese Red Cross or your national Red Cross you may do so here!
I am proud of all of the children and my daughter for taking on the task of learning to fold Origami Cranes (not an easy task!) and for going to school early two days to fold cranes!
Update 4-20-11: There were 720 cranes left over from the sales which were then donated to the high school effort that partnered with a company and they received $2 for every crane which added an additional $1,440 to the total donation!
Cultural Diplomacy News (CDN) is reporting that President-Elect Obama has appointed Joseph Nye as the new U.S. Ambassador to Japan. News of Nye’s appointment is beginning to hit the international media outlets (primarily in Japan). A slightly more detailed article about Nye’s appointment is available on Yahoo! News here.
Nye who is a leading scholar in international relations theory is widely known for coining the term “Soft Power”. One of my first blog posts was on Joseph Nye’s article on the value of soft power and international education entitled “Squandering the U.S. ‘Soft Power’ Edge” from the January/February 2007 International Educator which you can access here.
On October 1, 2008 the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission issued announced in a press release that the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (JFMF) Teacher Program would end on December 31, 2008. While this is very sad news the press release indicates that the Governments of Japan and the United States are negotiating a bi-nationally funded exchange programs for teachers between the two countries.
