This summer University of Central Arkansas alumna Michelle Bones (’03) participated in the Japan Fulbright Teacher Program. She and two other teachers from Arkansas were selected from a national pool of over 2,500 applicants by a panel of educators to earn the honor of going to Japan. The program allows distinguished primary and secondary school educators in the U.S. to travel to Japan for three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations.
Bones? trip began with a visit to Tokyo with a practical orientation on Japanese life and culture and meetings with Japanese government officials and educators. The group then traveled in smaller groups to selected host cities outside of Tokyo.
The host city for Bones was Iwanuma, Miyagi which is Northeast of Tokyo next to the North Pacific. In the host city her group made direct contact with Japanese teachers and students during visits to primary and secondary schools as well as teachers college.
Bones says this experience was ?one of a kind.? She felt very lucky to be a participant in the program and would encourage all teachers to apply for the program in the future.
The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund, based in Tokyo, oversees all aspects of the Teacher Program. The program is sponsored by the Government of Japan and was launched in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. government Fulbright Program, which has enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the U.S. on Fulbright fellowships for graduate education and research. The Institute of International Education acts as the agency for the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund to coordinate the recruitment and pre-departure activities of the Teacher Program in the United States.
Primary and secondary school educators of all disciplines throughout the United States can apply to take part in one of the three trips to Japan scheduled for 2006, as guests of the Japanese Government. Applicants are not required or expected to have previous knowledge of Japanese or Japan. The application deadline for all 2006 trips is Dec. 10. For more information about the 2006 competition, please refer to http://www.fulbrightmemorialfund.jp or contact 1-888-527-2636 (1-888-Japan-FMF) or email jfmf@iie.org. All applications must be completed on line.
