After viewing the solar eclipse and observing the children last Monday, Takumi Ito played soccer on the field at Lincoln Elementary School. Ito, a senior at Kansai University in Japan, will spend a total of three weeks in Kansas.
In his first week with schools in Iola, Ito spent time in Mary Ann Regehr’s fourth grade class. His journey to Kansas has come a long way and has been more than a decade in the making.
It all started when now-retired librarian Deb Greenwall visited Japan when she was selected as a teaching ambassador in 2004. The Japanese government selected 200 teachers as ambassadors, where Greenwall and the others were royally treated for three weeks.
Greenwall saw five prefectures of Japan, including Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nara, Yamanashi and Osaka. It was at Showa Chugakko (Junior High School) where Greenwall saw Ito’s mom for the first time.
“I met Ito’s mother, who teaches English in junior high school in Osaka, Japan,” Greenwall recalled. “Our students were pen pals back and forth for 12 years, and his mom came over to visit once.”
In his youth, Ito was one of those pen pals.
With Ito scheduled to graduate from Kansai in December, he wanted to see what schools are like in the United States compared to Japan.
One of the biggest differences Ito noticed was how Japanese students take responsibility for their schools.
“Japanese students clean the school themselves,” Ito said. “United States students don’t clean the restrooms. It is different.”
Students in Japan will move all the chairs in the restroom, classrooms and hallways to clean up the facility. In America, Ito saw how janitors will do the majority of the cleaning.
Teachers in Japan often work longer hours in America, according to Ito. After school ends around 4 p.m., a required after-school program is also taught by the teachers, which means they can be home as late as 8 p.m. when the day is over. From seeing how American teachers work, Ito admitted he liked the schedule that they get compared to Japan.
Ito also saw how there were special teachers in elementary schools for both art and music. Japan has a different path for the younger elementary aged children.
“Japan does not have special classes from first to third grade,” Ito said. “There are no special teachers. Middle school and high school will have music class, art class and library.”
As a result, teachers in charge of first through third grade will teach everything. Lunch is also brought inside the classroom as students eat together, unlike in a cafeteria, according to Ito.
Greenwall said that she enjoyed the pen pal program through the 12 years she oversaw it through her time at Lincoln, McKinley and Jefferson Elementary schools as well as a brief year at Iola Middle School.
“Every kid that went through my library through had a pen pal, including Ito,” Greenwall said. “As a result, a lot of students have learned about Japan and the culture. From snacks to dressing [the girls] in kimonos, it’s been great.”
When Ito becomes a teacher, he said he will have a similar pen pal system in place. After he graduates Kansai with a focus in junior high school social studies, Ito will attend graduate school at Nara Kyoiku University to get a master’s degree.
Ito wants to teach a different group of students when his education is done.
“I want to be an elementary school teacher,” Ito said.
After spending time with both IMS and Iola High School, Ito will be going to Kansas City to see the National WWI Museum and Memorial as well as see a Kansas City Royals baseball game this week. His trip in Kansas will conclude on Tuesday.
Japanese guest experiences Iola schools
