First WWL research conference

Since 2019, this school has been designated as a base school of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science and Technology’s WWL (World-Wide Learning) Consortium Support Project, with Kanazawa University as the administrative institution. Only 10 high schools in Japan have this designation.
On Saturday, February 22nd, 2020, the school held its first WWL research conference. Open classes on “Foundation International Liberal Arts,” “English,” and “Mathematics” were held in the morning.
The “Foundation International Liberal Arts” class was conducted with the theme of international understanding based on “FACTFULNESS.” In the “English” lesson, a CLIL class was held in collaboration with Japanese history and geography. The “Mathematics” lesson was given to the understanding of the spread of infectious diseases mathematically, based on methods learned from Dutch educators in mathematics.
In the afternoon, the first-year students made presentations based on comprehensive research they did for their “Regional Issues Study,” while the second-year students presented their “Global Issues Research.” (In addition, on February 21st, all first-year students held a “Poster Session for Companies,” which also had great success).
Approximately 100 people from within and from outside the prefecture attended, and many meaningful questions were asked. We thank all those who participated in this lively event.


Taiwan Normal University Study Class

On Monday, February 10th, students studying English education at Taiwan Normal University held a research class for 1st-year students at the school. We welcomed six students, and they were paired to give a lesson at TT. Each pair designed a different topic. In 1A, the subject was “Taiwan – China Relations,” while in 1B, the subject was “The Merits and Demerits of the Internet Society.” “Home Exchange,” was the topic in 1C.
All the lessons involved group work, and students actively took part in the tasks despite feeling some frustration that they could not convey what they wanted to say using English alone.
Although English is the most widely used international language, it is said that 80% of English speakers are non-native speakers of the language. Even though they were learning English as a second language, like we are, the Taiwanese students spoke the language fluently. We can see their free and easy use in speaking English as one ideal model to pursue in order to be an “International person.”
We hope that more students will be encouraged to learn English by imagining themselves walking along and speaking comfortably in English with people from all around the world.


“4-school English Research Presentations” and Presentations to Kanazawa University Foreign Exchange Students

On Saturday, January 11th, 2020, students from Fuzoku High School, Izumigaoka High School, Nisui High School and Kanazawa Nishi High School gathered and held a “4-school joint research presentation.” Students from each school reported on the results of research they had conducted and exchanged viewpoints with their peers. All first-year students, as well as five second-year students, from Fuzoku High School participated in the event. It was an exciting gathering, and many of the presentations were overwhelmingly excellent. The students returned to their respective schools, ready to take on new challenges!
In December and January second-year students also invited international students from Kanazawa University to listen to poster presentations in English. The presentations were given on topics related to Sustainable Development Goals, which the students had been working on throughout the past school year. The demonstrations were a good rehearsal for presentations given by the students during their school trip to Singapore.




Regional revitalization projects

On Friday, November15th, and Friday, November 22nd, the first-year students presented the results of their reports concerning regional revitalization projects. This year, twenty-one projects were initiated, and fieldwork had been repeatedly undertaken since April. The research and study saw the sprouting of great innovation among high school students. One group, in cooperation with the local shopping district, completed an eco-map of the area, while another team initiated and ran an art festival. With help from a nearby confectionary shop, another group made ice-cream using local fruit and actually sold it at our school.
People representing organizations such as the Japan Financial Corporation and the Kanazawa Youth Chamber of Commerce greatly appreciated the presentations and made suggestions for future research
The question-and answer session following the presentations became quite heated at times, but serious discussions were held by youths who one day will be the leaders of society.
In January, many high schools in Kanazawa, including Izumigaoka High School, Futami High School and Nishi High School, will hold a presentation at our school. This will be a great opportunity to share ideas with many other students. Our school will also hold a poster session in February with company workers, summarizing the impact their efforts can have on society.


72nd Poster Session Held by 2nd Year Students

On Wednesday, July 10th, the 2nd year students held a poster session related to their research on global issues.
Last year, they had finished their research on regional issues, and since January of this year they have been doing research on global issues. With the aim of developing SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) the students started their research on a variety of the most vexing problems selected among many.
Posters were created and poster sessions on their research and surveys were conducted. Unlike previous interim presentations, students from other grades were invited as guests to the presentations.
It was a satisfying experience to convey through the posters and the presentations new information to the guest students. There were many questions raised during the Q&A session after the presentations. There were also quite a few blunt opinions written on the comment sheets.
With these comments in mind, and after a video interview with the ACCU at the end of July, the 2nd year students hope to make progress in developing a better proposal.
These presentations by their seniors will hopefully act as a stimulus to the 1st year students who are currently doing their research on regional issues.