“I have memorized almost all of my speech. I want to do my very best,” said one student, who made Yumenomori’s first appearance at the Soso District Junior High School English Speech Contest, held at Ukifune Cultural Hall in Minamisoma City. During the summer vacation, the student practiced repeatedly with their English teacher and ALT. The contest has two categories, Creative and Recitation, and nearly 50 junior high school students presented the results of their hard work.
“It was my first English speech contest, so my legs were shaking with nervousness, but I now understand what a speech contest feels like. I memorized almost all of my speech for the Creative category. If I have the chance next year, I want to try my best again.”
From the supervising teacher:
“The student spoke while being aware of the judges, teachers, and parents in the audience. Their speech, themed on gratitude toward family, included joking expressions of love for their younger brother and an ad-libbed ‘Thank you!’ to their mother who came to support them. It was impressive and inspiring—so confident that you would hardly think it was their first contest.”
“Let’s Design a Poster — 8th Grade Art”
In an art class for 8th graders, we held a collaborative lesson with Aizu University. Students used photos of local specialties from Okuma Town as materials to create posters promoting the town’s attractive points.
Reflections:
- “I drew a strawberry. It was difficult to express the size and color like in the photo. I was happy to be able to draw again after a long time.“
- “Choosing materials was especially difficult. I learned important points and things to be careful about when making a poster, which was very helpful.“
- “I drew a fish and aimed to create the kanji for “fish” with my drawing. I was happy when people said it was a very creative idea.“
The first week of the second semester passed in the blink of an eye. Many interactive lessons and collaborative activities were held during the week.
“Summer at Kusunoki” — Theme Collage Art
