Support Japanese education during the coronavirus!
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
Japanese Language School of RaleighPlease help JLSR students online learning experience while in person classes are suspended
$7,300
raised by 27 people
$5,000 goal
Thank you for supporting our crowdfunding campaign!
We just held our virtual graduation ceremony on March 13th and presented diplomas to our graduates at our office building. All of the graduates’ faces looked bright, and understandably so. Those children are graduating after learning in both local (American) and our Japanese school through countless obstacles and completed all of their academics with such a sense of accomplishment. In one day, our students learn the entire week’s worth of academic curriculums in Japan. Studying beforehand and afterwards for each class is essential and the efforts that go into it are admirable to me.
During the school year of 2020, we had to switch everything online. Teachers and students adapted well. New tools such as digital textbooks emerged as effective visual materials we wish to utilize in the future.
Your support made it possible to invest in such valuable assets to fulfill our students’ online experience and will continue to support our students long after the pandemic.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tetsuro Sakata
Principal, the Japanese language School of Raleigh
▼Our Story▼
The Japanese Language School of Raleigh (JLSR) is a PreK-12 Saturday school operating in the rented buildings of a private school in Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. The school was founded in 1982, to assist an increasing number of Japanese children of expats who moved to the area from Japan for their work or studies. The students attending JLSR are expected to complete an entire year’s educational curriculum of Language and Math programs required by the Japanese Government in just 40 school days. As more Japanese families moved to the area, along with other families with ties to Japan, more students entered JLSR regardless of their nationality or future plans to move back to Japan. Now, with nearly 200 students, JLSR is proud to serve as one of the most prominent hubs of the Japanese community in the Capital of NC and beyond.
The current Covid-19 pandemic hit us hard. Since our school’s closing in March 2020, the faculty, committee and board members, and parents remained flexible and productive. We started with assignment-based self-taught classes, to morning meetings, and finally to a nearly full-day of online classes. As we proceeded to try out different classroom methods, the possibility for improvements became apparent. Online digital textbooks, Google Classroom setup, and adequate new computers for the teachers, and other IT peripherals.
Although some students in Japan are beginning to receive personal devices and other infrastructure to support their continuing education, JLSR didn’t have the resources to fully support the capital investment for such new technologies needed to overcome these current obstacles. Additionally, the concern for the spread of the virus resulted in many local Japanese companies relocating their US based employees back to Japan, resulting in an unexpected loss of tuition. We need to act quickly to ensure that our students will still have a solid academic experience by providing funds for the necessary changes.
This project was launched to reach as many people as possible for their contributions to JLSR for a better learning environment.
▼Our Project▼
Establishing the best environment for online classes is an enormous challenge for both our students and our teachers. Below are the capital investments we hope to accomplish.
▼Digital textbooks and improved utilization▼
<Why do we need these, and how do they improve the class environment?>
During an in-person classroom setting, teachers could use a whiteboard along with printed materials or actual objects that facilitate the students’ in-depth learning. For example, when we came across the words “ancient instant rice” in a textbook, teachers prepared some rice and brought it with them to class so the students could see and touch it first hand.
In an online class setting, where real-life experiences are limited to non-existent, digital textbooks can provide supplemental support with special videos that are focused on the specific topic. For example, during the “Everchanging soybeans” lesson, students can gain more specific visual images by watching the process of making tofu, miso, and soy sauce, etc.
<Teacher’s Comment>
Our 3rd-grade class has integrated the use of digital textbooks ahead of some of the other classes. The most significant advantage of digital textbooks is that it allows us to work on various pages on the screen simultaneously which wasn’t possible when I was showing the paper textbook on my camera.
Digital textbooks include various useful tools designed to help teachers plan for each class and provides visual understanding for the students. These are just a few of the benefits that I would like to continue to use even after we return to in-person classrooms.
Kayoko Nishikawa
3rd Grade Teacher at JLSR
<Student’s Comment>
It was difficult to understand exactly what the teacher wanted us to see when I could only look at printed textbooks through the teacher’s camera. The digital textbooks are extremely clear to see and I’m very happy with the additional content such as videos and photos. With the functionality of the digital textbooks, my teacher can now show us the correct order of how to solve complicated math problems by writing directly on the digital textbook or by showing memos to us on how to solve. I hope that all the students in other grades will be able to benefit from digital textbooks.
3rd Grade Student at JLSR