American students Layla Springs, 16, left, and Rosa Thompson, 15, middle left, work with Japanese students Cocomi Trinity Gibson, 16, middle right, and Yuina Nishiba, right, during the Student Educational Exchange and Dialogue at Matthew C. Perry High School, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – American and Japanese middle and high school students gathered here for a weekend of cultural exchanges and entrepreneurial role-playing.
The first Student Educational Exchange and Dialogue program of the school year opened Saturday at Matthew C. Perry High School, a part of the Department of Defense Education Activity.
It was the third time in the exchange program for Xochitl Seubert, 16, a junior at M.C. Perry.
“We always had to do a presentation, and we brought our ideas and creativity,” Seubert told Stars and Stripes on Sunday. “And I like creating stuff and making art.”
Seubert said she wished the program was a little longer, the better to forge stronger friendships.
“I would need to have more time with them because two days is not enough time,” she said.
Teacher Brandy Navarro, who helped plan and coordinate the event, said she shared the same hope.
“If I could change anything as far as this event goes, would just be somehow to make it be a little bit longer, where the kids get more kid interaction time, nonadult led, just fun where they get to be kids,” Navarro told Stars and Stripes on Sunday.
American and Japanese students make their presentation before Col. Richard Rusnok and Iwakuni city Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda during the Student Educational Exchange and Dialogue at Matthew C. Perry High School, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
American and Japanese students work together on a poster for a the local-culture product during the Student Educational Exchange and Dialogue at Matthew C. Perry High School, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese students Naji Takemoto, 15, left, Wakana Terasaki, 15, middle, and Mitsuki Kawamoto, 13, right, design a poster during the Student Educational Exchange and Dialogue at Matthew C. Perry High School, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)
Each day of the camp, 30 middle and high school students took part in hands-on activities designed to foster diverse perspectives, promote mutual understanding and bridge language barriers.
“The activities are really fun,” Seubert said. “There was this games that we did, charades.”
The students worked together Sunday in five groups to develop a product based on the local economy and culture and present it to everyone, with MCAS Iwakuni commander Col. Richard Rusnok and Iwakuni city Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda scoring the presentations.
One group pitched an idea for a magnet and bottle opener in the shape of the iconic Iwakuni castle. Each group prepared a poster as part of their presentation.
Fukuda at the closing ceremony told the students that he found some of their specific recommendations quite insightful.
Rusnok told the students to think of on-base and off-base as one community and encouraged them to stay in touch to connect as American and Japanese citizens.
“Working in diverse teams to achieve a common goal will also be an important life skill as you continue your academic pursuits and move into your future professions,” Rusnok said at the closing ceremony.
Other Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Japan are still coordinating with Japanese schools before announcing dates for the program, Sunao Takao, deputy director of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Stars and Stripes at the event on Sunday.
