On December 16th we held the 3rd Annual Global Festival. This year was a bit different because of precautions taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students watched the events and cheered on their classmates using zoom from their home room classrooms.
The first event was the recitation contest. Seven students from grade 7 and 8 were included in this years contest. The 7th grade students recited “The Tailor of Gloucester” by Beatrix Potter, who is most famous for her short story “Peter Rabbit”. The 8th grade students recited a story called “The Echo”, which teaches us about the importance of doing and saying good things, because everything we give comes back to us.
The students practiced very hard, and gave amazing performances. Their memorization, pronunciation, and emotional storytelling impressed the judges.
The second event was an oration contest. Six students from grade 9, 10, and 11 read speeches they wrote themselves. The grade 9 students wrote speeches about their favorite words. The grade 10 students wrote speeches about how to build a better future for Japan. The grade 11 students wrote speeches about a problem in the world that they hope to solve.
All the speeches were very powerful and meaningful, and the students did an amazing job in both writing and sharing their speech. It was clear that they worked very hard, and that the themes shared meant a lot to them.
While the judges calculated the results of the contests, Global Studies students shared what they have been working on this year. 11th Grade Students presented their ‘Mock Trial’. The mock trial was about the topic of fast fashion. The students discussed who was responsible for the negative effects of the fast fashion industry: factory workers, factory owners, the government, fast fashion brands, or consumers. The reality of the situation is very difficult, but the students could share their knowledge and understanding of the topic very well.
12th grade Global Studies students shared their research projects. In small teams, students researched about different problems in the world. They learned about the current situation and the causes of the problem, and thought about possible solutions. Additionally, the teams researched about a charity organization related to their topic, and introduced that charity and their activities. The topics the teams selected were: vaccinations, marine plastic pollution, poverty in Sudan, animal rights, Syrian refugees, and, child labor. Charities introduced included: JCV (世界の子どもにワクチンを日本委員会), Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN), Japan Platform (ジャパン・プラットフォーム), Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK), the UNHCR Refugee Agency, and, ACE (エース).
Despite the difficulties faced this year, the students worked very hard and challenged themselves to improve their English skills and awareness about global issues.
