Southern Indiana Japanese School honored with awards

USI's Southern Indiana Japanese School (SIJS) has received the School Award in Writing from the Japan Overseas Educational Services, a subsidiary of the Japanese government's Ministry of Education and Science. Only 21 out of nearly 300 Japanese schools abroad received the award. This is the ninth consecutive year that the SIJS has received this honor.

Additional writing prizes also were awarded to two SIJS students. Ren Higuchi, a fourth grader at William Tell Elementary School, received an award in the writing category, and Hiroki Kobayashi, a tenth grader at Castle High School, won an award in two categories, Haiku poetry and poetry.

A total of 41,834 literary works were submitted to the writing contest this year.

"I am very glad that the two students won the three awards," said Keietsu Nishimura, principal of SIJS. "I am also delighted that we won the School Award this year, too. This is owing to the support of the University of Southern Indiana, the school board of the Southern Indiana Japanese School and the parents of the students. I also appreciate all of the effort from the students and teachers."

SIJS, a program of USI Outreach and Engagement, opened in 1997 at the request of and with the financial support of Tri-state regional companies to help prepare students for a smooth transition into Japanese school life when they return home. Currently, the school has 50 students and 10 teachers who provide instruction in Japanese language, culture and other selected disciplines on Saturdays and after the regular school day.