By Nick Buglione
Last Wednesday, students and teachers at Barnum Woods Elementary School threw on kimonos and got themselves in a Far East mood, as Consul Keiji Inoue, a representative of Japan¹s Ministry of Education, stopped by to take a tour of the school, check out student artwork, and learn a little bit more about education in America.
For the past year, students from the first through fifth grades have been studying Japanese arts and working on projects influenced by the culture, following art teacher Janice Oldak¹s acceptance into the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program.
Created by President Bill Clinton and the Japanese government in 1997, this program seeks to further education and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
As part of her project, Oldak spent three weeks visiting Japanese elementary, middle and high schools, attending Fulbright workshops, and touring the country.
³It was really wonderful to visit all the schools to get a total sense of the education,² said Oldak, who has been teaching art at Barnum Woods for 20 years.
During her trip, she had the opportunity to stay with the principal of Tokiwa Elementary School in Soja City, Okayama. Oldak also delivered 1,000 paper cranes that her students made to the Hiroshima Peace Park Museum. ³[The students] loved making the cranes,² Oldak said. ³They couldn¹t stop doing them. They were making them at home.²
When Oldak returned from Japan, the students continued work on their Japanese art projects. Their enthusiasm was visible, said Principal Gregory Bottari.
³Ms. Oldak¹s visit to Japan has had a major influence on our art program this year,² Bottari said. ³The students have thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese culture through the arts. It has been well received.²
Students even worked on a joint-project with Tokiwa Elementary School, creating a 12-by-7-foot friendship kimono, which is a traditional Japanese robe.
A collaborative patchwork of peace, the friendship kimono is actually a kimono-shaped quilt that was pieced together using artwork created by the students from the two schools. It demonstrates the many similarities they share despite their cultural and geographic differences.
The friendship kimono was presented to Inoue, who Oldak had invited to the school so he could witness first-hand the fruits of her Fulbright Memorial Fund project. ³I felt rather than just send my report in, I wanted the consul to experience it,² she said.
Prior to the friendship kimono presentation, the Barnum Woods advanced orchestra and band performed two songs for Inoue. He toured the building after the presentation, taking in all the various works of art that adorn the halls.
Though originally conceived as just an art project, the students¹ Japanese studies crossed over into other classes, said Bottari.
When Inoue dropped in on a third-grade class in session, the students spoke about all the things they have learned about his country of origin through this project. ³I was very impressed,² Inoue said. ³It¹s very different [than Japanese schools], but I feel same energy.²
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
