On March 13th during the 4th period we had 3 JET alumni come and speak to the students in the 3rd grade and above.  The speakers were Nancy Kikuchi, Joe Sanosa and Brian Waters. 

The speakers came from very diverse backgrounds.  Nancy’s parents spoke Japanese to each other, so Nancy has always been exposed to the Japanese culture.  Joe is half Chinese and half Filipino, so he did not even know a word of Japanese when he got to Japan.  Brian is half Japanese and half American and never learned Japanese until he went to college.   Although these speakers had a very diverse backgrounds it sounds like they had a very fulfilling JET experience. 

I hope these speakers have inspired our students to keep learning Japanese and continue with their studies.    Although you need to be a college graduate to participate in the JET program, the knowledge that our students have of Japanese will one day pay off.  Who knows, 10 years from now, one of our former students maybe a JET alumni speaker.