Inagi City Nagamine Elementary School

We we greeted by the principal of Inagi City Nagamine Elementaty School and sipped green tea while listening to a brief welcome. We then headed outside for the morning announcements. The school yard was a sea of red and white. All of the students wore reversable hats that can be used to identify teams when playing games. Our student’s hats were red and white. The school was divided into teams that included students from each grade. The yard was divided into different games and the students stayed in their area and enjoyed playing. When the whistle blew, everyone stopped, cleaned up the materials and headed to their spot in line (shortest to tallest). They were greeted by their principal who introduced us and gave a short assembly. Then, as the students began to walk into the school, loud march music played over the speaker. Students entered the building and went off to class on their own.


Inside the school, the walls showed off the student’s beautiful art work. We began with a visit to a calligraphy class and then off to visit everyone else. I was amazed at all of the fine arts that the school had to offer. Sewing, music, cooking, art and PE (including swimming) were just some of the activities that went on during the day. Students were having fun in all of the classes and once again the independence was evident. In one class, I saw the students harvesting the rice that they had grown. It was part of a science class about where food came from. Students walked the halls without a teacher or a hall pass and it wasn’t unusual to see students alone somewhere like the library reading or checking out books. At lunchtime, we joined the students in their classrooms to eat. Students brought the hot foods to the classroom and set up and served everyone, once again with out supervision. Once they were finished other students cleaned up and the students went to recess on their own!


After class we were able to sit down with the teachers and discuss our similarities and differences. Both sides learned a lot from the experience and many set up pen pals for their classrooms.