Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme - Part 2
On the 17th August two teachers will be arriving from our sister city Minoh, Japan. They will be visiting six schools and an early childhood centre in Lower Hutt. Ms. Koike is a Year 5 teacher and Mr. Ariura is a Junior High School English teacher. While they are here, they will be teaching our students about Japanese culture, some language and learning about the New Zealand Education system.
Michelle & Ardis in JHS, Minoh 2016
They are in Lower Hutt as the second part of the Inaugural Hutt - Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme.
Lower Hutt and Minoh celebrated the 20th Anniversary of their Sister City relationship in October 2015. During these celebrations Mayor Wallace and Mayor Kurata signed an agreement to formalise the establishment of the Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme.
Hutt City Council Projects Manager, Linda Goss-Wallace and her Minoh City Office colleague, Noriko Ueno, worked together to establish this exchange opportunity for local teachers to experience educational similarities and differences and to embrace the culture and lifestyles in each country.
Michelle & Ardis in front of Minoh's most famous landmark 2016
In October 2016, Michelle Gibson and Ardis O'Connor went to Minoh to visit schools and to see the Japanese education system at work. They taught the students English, and New Zealand culture. Michelle and Ardis worked very hard fundraising to pay for expenses while in Japan and to help pay for expenses while the Japanese teachers are in New Zealand. Hutt City Council contributed some money towards airfares and Michelle and Ardis have raised thousands of dollars during the past 14 months.
This exchange has provided an amazing opportunity for cross cultural encounters involving hundreds of young people in the two cities. There are now many young people in Minoh who have seen photos and videos of Lower Hutt and of New Zealand in general. This programme has opened up the horizons of young people and has planted dreams for their future travels. Judging from the Japanese students' "oohs" and" aaahs" while watching videos of Lower Hutt, they will head straight for the Days Bay wharf and the Hutt River Cycle trails when they visit. Thanks to Ms. Koike and Mr. Ariura, many students in Lower Hutt will soon see photos of Minoh's beautiful waterfall and Katsuo-Ji Temple in the hills above the city.
It is a joy for these two beautiful cities to have links for hundreds of young people.
For more information on this teacher exchange programme, please contact Linda Goss-Wallace, Hutt City Council Projects Manager. Tel: 04 570 66 66
