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Kanaoka Junior High School is the largest school I am assigned to, it has 572 students in grades 7 to 9. Each grade has classes A through G. Like the other schools all class of the same grade are located along one hall. I have been very warmly received by the staff at Kanaoka. One of the first things I learned about Kanaoka is that it was the Prefecture (state) and four Prefecture Junior High Basketball Champions. That's like winning the Michigan JH State Championship and then beating the best schools from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Almost all the team was made up of 9th graders, so they have moved on to high school. Here students take entrance exams to get into the high school of their choice. Some high schools are known for academics and others for arts or sports. The students try to get into the one school best for their future. |
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Kanaoka Junior High |
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The entrance of Kanaoka is a long corridor between building one and two. It makes a nice private walk off the very busy entrance street. |
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The athletic field is the largest I have seen at any school. The light gold strip in front of the orange house is the school pool. After school students have basketball, baseball, tennis, volleyball and track club practice outdoors. The gym rotates uses by the boys' and girls' basketball, volleyball and gymnastic teams. In the center of the picture is Mt Fuji with its snow cap.It is a nice view from the school |
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Mr. Kobayashi is the principal and the vice -principal is Mr. Mori. Both men speak each morning to the teachers and are very active around the school. |
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Each moring the teachers must stamp their name in the record book. You can see the box for keeping each one's hanko. I also have my own personal stamp (hanko) to mark my attendance. Kanaoka has over 30 teachers. It has the large teachers room with three columns of desks, all the teachers of each grade level are organized into one column group. They also hold a morning grade level staff meeting. Next to the teachers' room is a work room with coffee and four computers. All teachers bring their own laptops and are networked to the school printers. The teachers' room is the only large room that is heated so it is comfortable on the cooler (55degree) mornings. |
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Kanaoka classes and clubs |
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All junior high students take the regular required courses of math, science, Englsih, Japanese, social studies and physical education. This school also has many other options for students to add to their cultural enrichment. |
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Typical 9th grade class in uniform and running suits. |
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Wood carving class. Students start by tracing a pattern, transfering it to wood and then chip carving the relief. These were very impressive works. |
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One art class is clay modeling. Everone was working on face sculptures. These two works, though not yet complete, show the quallity of art done by junior high students. There were so many good pieces to choose to take pictures of, it was hard to pick the best ones. |
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Each grade level has its own science room. Here 8th grade students are melting iron (Fe) and Sulfer (S) to make irion suflide. You probably remember it stinks like rotten eggs. But it is a very good science class. |
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Kanaoka JH Club pictures |
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