DETROIT – The United States-Japan Foundation has funded a team of educators from the Detroit area through the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Wayne State University to travel to Japan from May 15-24. The teachers will learn about the country’s policy renouncing war (except in cases of self-defense) following World War II and how these experiences have shaped Japan’s current culture and political climate. The trip is titled “Discovering Japan in the 21st Century: Reconciliation with the Past.”
Frederic S. Pearson, Ph.D., director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, will accompany the teachers to Japan. “The trip reinforces the center’s mission in its development and implementation of projects, programs, curricula, research and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social injustice, arms control, globalization, multicultural awareness and constructive conflict resolution,” Pearson said.
As part of the trip, the teachers plan to visit the center of the Tokyo air raids, view war damage and attend a speech by Masao Sato, who experienced the raids firsthand in March 1945, when he was 5 years old. In addition to Tokyo, the teachers will also visit the cities of Kyoto and Hiroshima – including Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and park – along with Shiga Prefecture, Michigan’s sister province, where they will share experiences with secondary education teachers and host families.
Detroit area teachers include:
- Andrea Jackson from Osborn Collegiate Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology High School in Detroit
- Brenda Carter, president of the Pontiac School District Board of Education and the incoming president of the Michigan Association of School Boards
- Sylvia B. Sturgis, teacher of sixth-grade English, language arts, math, science and social studies at The International Technology Academy in Detroit
- William A. Carrington, Pontiac School Board vice president and adjunct professor at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills
- Mina Mori, Japanese and innovation teacher at Athens High School in Troy
- Sebrina Shields, special educator for the School District of the City of Pontiac
- Susan Skwirsk, special educator for the School District of the City of Pontiac
- Chad Fisher, teacher of mathematics at International Technology Academy (a part of the Pontiac schools)
- Renee Paczkowski, Japanese teacher in Detroit
- Susan Waldecker from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Ann Arbor
“The Consulate General of Japan in Detroit is proud to help support this very important trip for area educators so they may learn about the education system in Japan and share their insights and expertise with their Japanese counterparts,” said Mitsuhiro Wada, Consul General of Japan in Detroit. “The Consulate General’s office strives to promote educational and cultural exchanges in the communities we serve. This teacher delegation serves that purpose and shows our commitment to furthering the friendship between Japan and Michigan.”
The teachers’ goals for the trip include learning about the history of the United States and Japan as they reconciled their differences after World War II; examining the recovery efforts of Hiroshima, particularly as it relates to its school system and how the teachers taught about how and why the school had to be rebuilt; and approaches to Japan's high literacy rate and how it contributed to the country’s economic growth post-World War II.
Additionally, Troy Athens High School teacher Mina Mori noted that students in the school’s Japanese Club made 1,000 origami cranes that she will present to the Hiroshima Peace Park on their behalf. "Visiting Hiroshima will be a very unique and sobering experience. It will also be one of hope, as I look forward to meeting the citizens of this great city and connecting with those with whom we have built a strong relationship," said Mori.