An exciting field trip in most fourth grade classrooms usually
entails a journey to a museum or aquarium. Thanks to an
international pen pal program however, local teachers have
discovered a way to give their students the experience of life in
Japan without ever asking students to step outside the
classroom.
Hollister – An exciting field trip in most fourth grade classrooms usually entails a journey to a museum or aquarium. Thanks to an international pen pal program however, local teachers have discovered a way to give their students the experience of life in Japan without ever asking students to step outside the classroom.
“The whole class gets to communicate with kids in Japan,” said Marissa Martin, a student in Billie McKenzie’s class at Spring Grove School. “We learn all about what they celebrate and do every day. I really like it.”
This marks the third year that McKenzie’s class has participated in the “Teddy Bear” program, developed through Sister Cities International and the International Education and Resource Network. The program matches up classrooms from across the world to exchange a small toy that will experience life in a different culture.
In this case, McKenzie’s class is exchanging a stuffed tiger, the school’s mascot, in exchange for two kimono-clad dolls with a class from Higashi Elementary School in Hollister’s sister city of Takino, Japan.
Kristen Damm’s fourth grade class at Ladd Lane is in its second year of the program, and are housing a stuffed bird nicknamed “Hyorin” in their class in exchange for a leopard, Ladd Lane’s Mascot.
“The kids get really excited learning about different foods and celebrations that we don’t have here in America,” McKenzie said.
Students in McKenzie’s and Damm’s class take turns bringing the toys home each night, and write a short entry about their evening told from the perspective of the dolls or bird. Each child takes their picture with the toy, and, by the end of the year, the toys will have an impressive “diary” detailing their stay in America. It will be sent back to Japan along with small gifts and translated so that the students can enjoy it. The students here in Hollister will be receiving a similar diary recording the exploits of Spirit and his leopard counterpart in Japan.
“I’ve learned that they eat a lot of different foods from us in Japan, especially a lot of fish,” said Amanda Monteon from Spring Grove. “I wrote to them about my cheerleading practice, because that’s really important to me.”
Both teachers stress that the most important aspect of the Teddy Bear Project provides a valuable lesson in tolerance, a subject not easily taught from books.
“I think this is really about opening up their eyes,” said Damm. “Yes, there are wars going on. Yes, there are groups of people who don’t get along because of their beliefs. But I think this project shows that we’re all just people who love our families and share meals together … I think it’s a great way to stress what we have in common with people across the world.”
