By Michele Smith
The Times
Cultural Exchange Between Students at DSD and Students From Japan
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Michele Smith
Juniors from Yamate High School in Yokohama demonstrated several activities, originating in Japan, to interested students, in the high school gym on Monday. Elementary School Principal Pam Lindsley looks on as students were shown the Origami method of making paper cranes.
DAYTON--Since their arrival in Dayton on April 15, forty-four juniors from Yamate High School in Yokohama, Japan, have been living with host families in Dayton and experiencing life in rural eastern Washington.
In July, ten to fifteen Dayton High School students will travel to Yokohama, live with host families and attend Yamate High School, according to teacher Kristine Warren, who is the Yamate Program coordinator.
Activities planned for the students from Yokohama while they are in Dayton were the high school prom at Running T Ranch on Saturday, and upcoming field trips to Little Goose Dam, Fort Walla Walla, and the Whitman Mission. A shopping trip to the Tri-Cities is planned as well, Warren said.
"They particularly like Wal-Mart, and they like to take food back home because they can get it in bigger quantities. Plus it is cheaper," she said.
When they are in Japan this summer, the Dayton High School students will take field trips to a Japanese Garden, to the Edo Museum in Tokyo, to a Buddhist Temple, and to Sea Paradise, where they can get acquainted with indigenous sea life. Some of the parents will also take kids to Tokyo Disneyland, said Warren.
"It's a wonderful program. I love it," Warren said. "It opens our kids' minds. They get to see the bigger picture."
Warren said that some of the Dayton kids have never been on a plane, subway, or city bus, or experienced a city of thirteen million people. She said many of the students want to go back to Japan, and they do. Some go, and come back with a greater appreciation for home.
"This is a phenomenal opportunity," she said.
The student exchange program has been in existence, sporadically, since 1969. It has been a regular feature since 1985, and is offered every three years, Warren said.
The Japanese exchange students in Dayton represent one of six schools with students currently in other places in North America, including in Pasco, and in Walla Walla. The students will all return to Japan on April, 29, said Warren.
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