This June, Catherine Colagross, an English and geography teacher at Oxford Middle School, will depart for Japan as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (JFMF) Teacher Program.
Colagross was chosen from a group of over 2,500 applicants by a panel of educators to earn this honor. The program allows distinguished primary and secondary school educators in the U.S. to travel to Japan for a little over three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between two nations.
Colagross said because her curriculum already centers around Japan, the hands-on experience she would get would help her students relate to their learning better.
‘They want to taste it,? she said. ‘They want to get a feel of the culture.?
Colagross first heard about the JFMF Teacher Program from a former OMS teacher. Already having been to Europe at least 10 times she thought it was a good chance to visit the eastern hemisphere she was always teaching about.
Two-hundred educators, including Colagross, will be taking the trip to Japan in June. In Tokyo, there will be a practical orientation on Japenese life and culture and meetings with Japanese government officials and educators.
After visiting Tokyo, Colagross said they will travel in groups of 20 to selected host cities outside of Tokyo where they will have direct contact with Japanese teachers and students during visits to various schools. They also will visit cultural sites and local industries in addition to a brief homestay with a Japanese family.
Because she knows nothing of Japanese culture and language, Colagross said she’s been trying really hard to study the packets of information the program hands out to recipients before traveling.
‘Nothing that’s written about the host city I’m going to is written in English,? she said. ‘It’s a very rigorous process.?
The JFMF is sponsored, and fully paid for, by the Government of Japan and was launched in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. government’s Fulbright Program, which has enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the U.S. on Fulbright fellowships for graduate education and research.
Six hundred educators from all 50 states will be invited to visit Japan in June, October and November of this year (200 in each group). Teachers of any disciplines can participate. To date, more than 4,600 educators have visited Japan through the JFMF Teacher Program.
Upon their return, program participants are to share what they have learned about Japan with their students and communities through a variety of outreach projects. Colagross plans on presenting her findings on the use of technology in Japan to the community at a technology conference and a social studies conference.
‘I want to figure out what the differences in technology are so I can bring it back to the school to share it with the students,? she said.
Colagross isn’t the only one excited about her trip. Her students are also excited for her. She said the one thing they want her to bring back is an authentic Japanese Coca-Cola can to display on her already full shelf.
‘I’m an avid Coke can collector,? she said with a smile.
She also plans to bring back an artifact box (equipped with Japanese magazines and clothes) so her students get an idea of what the average teenager from Japan is like.
Colagrass would like to thank OMS for the many letters of recommendation that helped her to receive this honor. ‘I appreciate their support in allowing me to have this opportunity,? she said. ‘It should open up some doors for the kids.?