SMS hosts Japanese delegation from Kameoka, renews Sister City relationship after 13 years

Nov. 3—The cheers started as seven Japanese students filed in with three adults — a small but very welcomed group from Kameoka, Japan.

The atmosphere in the Stillwater Middle School gymnasium — filled with excited students, staff and administrators — was clearly energized.

From Monday-Friday, SMS hosted the group of 10 students and adults from Kameoka, Japan.

Kameoka, located in the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan, has been a sister city to Stillwater since 1985.

SPS School Exchange Coordinator Kari Quigley took the last delegation to Japan in 2010, and she hopes to bring awareness to the program again.

"Kids are kids, and they have a joy for life, they like other kids, and they like to share," Quigley said. "(The program) opens everyone's eyes to how different cultures still have the same ideas."

From 1985 to 2010, the exchange program thrived, then, due to budget concerns, experienced a 13-year hiatus.

In January 2020, the Mayor of Kameoka visited Stillwater with a delegation of city officials and discussed reviving the school exchange with Stillwater City officials. Although Stillwater Schools were in favor of the proposal, the pandemic postponed the plan until 2023.

SMS has been a sister school with Taisei Junior High School in Kameoka since April of 1989.

Through the years, student and teacher delegations traveled from one country to the other annually, visiting each other's schools to share cultural experiences and special gifts.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce, SPS Superintendent Uwe Gordon, members of the Stillwater Sister Cities Council and hosting families joined the crowd in the gymnasium as SMS officially said goodbye to the Kameoka delegation.

The 2023 Japanese delegation included four eighth-graders and three ninth-graders, along with Hiroaki Kanzaki, Kameoka's Superintendent of Schools; Asuka Hattori, Culture and International Relations Coordinator at Kameoka City Hall; and Samuel Zeid, Coordinator of International Relations for the City of Kameoka.

During their stay, the delegation enjoyed trick-or-treating with other students on Tuesday evening, made presentations about Kameoka to SMS World Studies classes, visited the Pawnee Bill Ranch and spent time at the Oklahoma State University campus and athletic facilities.

The Japanese delegation were the guests of honor at a dinner Friday evening and were introduced at the Stillwater High School football game. In addition, they were able to fill in other activities as the week progressed.

"Between the students and adults with us here this week, we've learned even more about their culture, shared more of our culture, and we've developed even stronger relationships," Joyce said during the official sendoff. "We're looking forward to our visit to Kameoka next year to celebrate the 35th year of our sister city relationship."

John Mills, former SMS principal and a member of the Stillwater Sister Cities Council, joined Joyce on the stage as he read a proclamation from the City of Stillwater to each member of the delegation and then presented one to Superintendent Kanzaki. School Exchange Coordinator Quigley read each student's name and presented them with the proclamation.

SMS showed a video presentation of the delegation's adventures throughout the week, translator Zeid played a flute piece that represented a 200-year celebration of an event — much like Thanksgiving — in Kameoka and both superintendents gave speeches, along with Joyce and SMS Principal Ryan Blake.

At SMS, the student body is separated into seven teams of 150 students each — with names such as Synergy and Alpha — and each team hosted a student from the delegation. Several student families hosted the students in their homes, and teachers and their families stepped in to help.

In Kameoka, an exact replica of Old Central at OSU is housed, while at the SPS district, a Japanese garden honoring Kameoka has a spot near the Stillwater Community Center.

"What teachers at SMS have said ... is that middle school students in Stillwater are the same as middle school students in Kameoka, Japan," Blake said. "They have the same interests, the same loves, the same curiosities, it's wonderful. The teams have embraced every student that was with them ... whether it's in class, at recess or with the host families."

Students in the delegation were chosen after writing essays and interviewing with school administrators.

For 13-year-old Ayumu Fukui, touring the OSU campus was a highlight.

Nono Nishiyama, 13, said she enjoyed dressing up as a character from the Disney movie Zootopia for Halloween. Speaking with help from the translator, Zeid, she shared her experiences in the classroom.

"I found it quite amazing that during class it was very lively, and that people could kind of do their own thing, but still be focused," Nishiyama said. "I found that there were a lot more opinion exchanges that go on, and people kind of saying their thoughts and feelings more in the U.S. than you find in Japan."

Fukui said in Japan, many people are embarrassed to speak up and put themselves out there.

"I found that in a lot of my classes, a lot of people were very energetic and excited to answer," Fukui said.

Nishiyama's favorite class in school is music and she hopes to become a traditional Japanese artist.

"I want to learn English and become a translator," Fukui joked.

Superintendent Kanzaki has been with Kameoka Schools for five years.

One of the unique experiences of the trip was celebrating Halloween, he said. Although in Japan, families do dress up, they do not go out together trick-or-treating.

He said two major similarities between Stillwater and Kameoka was that both cities are nature-oriented and the students are active and happy.

"The biggest difference I've noticed is the way the education system is constructed — the freedom that all the kids have within their classes," Kanzaki said.

Japanese students have uniforms, specific times for classes to end, structured classroom desks and floor plans — and students don't eat snacks or leave the room.

"Being able to see that the students can have more freedom, yet they all know their roles ... they're able to enjoy themselves, yet they know what's required of them," he said. "... I feel like there's something we can learn from there about having students have a little bit more freedom in their classrooms."

He thinks the schools in Kameoka can take away more from Stillwater than Stillwater from Kameoka — to connect better with students and families and to provide more safety for students.

"I've thought a lot about it, but in full honesty, I feel like there's a lot of things that Japan needs to learn from the American education system," Kanzaki said. "What stood out to me was how each teacher has their own unique personality ... but they're still so friendly to the students."

He said in Stillwater, the focus is on students and educating them.

"I got a strong feeling when I was in Stillwater that this whole city is built around educating the kids and taking care of them," Kanzaki said. " ... The warm welcome that the kids have given all of us really stuck with me."

At the end of the program, Gordon led in the Pioneers' cheer.

"We're about education and learning here at SPS, but this has been an amazing learning experience for all of us," Gordon told the assembly. "Now, because of your experience this week — students from Kameoka — and the effect that you've had on us, you are now Pioneers."