Jingumae International Exchange School (JIES) is located behind Omotesando Hills and shares facilities with a Japanese public school. As a result of this, JIES has the unique opportunity for multi-cultural exchanges on a regular basis. Every morning the schools share recess and on Friday mornings the students run together. They also have class-to-class exchange activities where classes of the same age groups get together.
The schools also have “suisha” activities throughout the year. The suisha (water wheel) is a symbol of the two schools. Each suisha group is comprised of students from kindergarten through sixth grade from both schools.
In December the suisha groups got together to plan a festival. Each group gathered and planned a variety of activities for the big day. The children organized a game for their classroom, made posters to advertise the game throughout the school, and decorated their classrooms. On the day of the festival the students enjoyed taking turns running the game they had set up and also experiencing a variety of games throughout the building, as well as spending time mingling. Staff enjoyed seeing children from both schools stepping outside their comfort zones and trying to speak one another’s language. — KENAN ULU
