岩手県立遠野高等学校

2005フルブライト米国教員視察団が訪問

2005/06/24 - 20名の視察団が訪問し、普段通りの学校生活をお見せ致しました。 職員朝会、ＳＨＲ、授業見学、昼休みの自由時間、清掃活動、 放課後のクラブ活動（剣道、茶菓道、弓道、邦楽）。 授業は全クラスを自由に見学して頂きましたが、 最初はとまどった生徒も参観の視察団も気にならなくなり、 授業に集中していました。全校放送されたメッセージをご紹介します。 おはようございます、遠野高校！

Ohayō gozaimasu Tōno High School!

I wish I could speak better Japanese, but I'm afraid that if I try to tell you something like "We really love Tōno and are so impressed with your school" that it might sound wrong and instead say "I live with the purple and green panda in the taxi and I like to eat chalk". But I'll try my best: koko ga totemo ki ni irimashita.

Tono reminds me of my home state, West Virginia. You have beautiful green mountains with streams, friendly people with smiling faces, and a richness in folklore. I have flown across the world to find myself and feeling at home (and boys are my arms tired).

In the United States, the schools are very different from each other. You will meet 20 different teachers today, from 20 different schools. Most Americans think that the Japanese school system is the best in the world; from our trip, we have learned that this is true. Further, our experiences in Japan have far exceeded any expectations we might have had. My colleagues and I have never met such friendly and welcoming people. Our experiences in Tōkyō and Tōno will forever remain in our hearts and minds. We are deeply honored to spend this time in your country, your prefecture, and most importantly, your school. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the US, I can only hope that you will find our country just as beautiful and that your experiences will be as rich as ours have been.

Finally, students, please be yourselves today — because that is who we want to meet today. Even if your teachers told you to be on your best behavior, be you. When my students see me in the hallway, they say to me this phrase: "What's up Miss Kidd?" So today, when you meet us in the hallways of your school, say to us "What's up?"

Again, thank you for the overwhelming generousity you've shown to my fellow teachers and me.