CULTURAL EXCHANGES:
5th Grade Trip Information
Cultural exchange forms and information
- Cultural series calendar (pdf) new
- Student letter of intent form (doc) (pdf)
- Student registration forms (doc) (pdf)
- Chaperone application form (doc) (pdf)
- Student Home Stay Exchange Information Sheet (doc) (pdf)
- Student Information Sheet cover letter (doc) (pdf)
- Kobe / Numazu Preference Form (doc) (pdf)
- Request for Group Partner (doc) (pdf)
- Performance Release Form (doc) (pdf)
- Financial assistance application form (doc) (pdf)
In the summer following the fifth grade, JMP students are given the opportunity to travel to Japan. ONK, parents, and the administration and staff of Richmond Elementary School feel that this experience is very beneficial to the language acquisition that these children have been participating in for the previous 6 years.
The main objectives of the 5th grade cultural exchange are:
- To provide students with an authentic cultural experience
- To allow students to use their language skills and cultural knowledge
- To provide a homestay experience
- To have a culminating experience for six years of learning Japanese
- help students commit to continuing wiht the JMP in middle and high school
Oya No Kai has established relationships with a number of Japanese schools or locales. The cultural exchange itinerary can vary from year to year. The students usually travel to two destinations within Japan. Students are required to demonstrate a level of responsible behavior and preparedness to participate in the cultural exchange, as they will be representing Richmond Elementary School, Portland, Oregon, and the United States of America.
This cultural exchange is totally planned by the parents of each class. No Portland Public School Funds are used to support the cultural exchange.
Portland Public Schools (PPS) does not fund, sponsor, or endorse this Cultural Exchange. PPS is not responsible for conducting or supervising this Cultural Exchange. PPS employees who choose to participate in this Cultural Exchange are not acting in their capacity as PPS employees and do so at their own risk. Persons participating in this Cultural Exchange do so at their own risk.
In 2006, 44 of the 48 fifth graders and their worthy chaperones left on June 20 for Nagoya on Northwest Airlines for two weeks in Japan. They headed to Fukuno, a small city in Toyama prefecture for five nights of homestays. They visited Fukuno School, a hot springs, and a traditional mountain village in Gokayam. The group then divided in two. One group visited Kobe to be hosted by families of Sumaura School, a private school program well over a hundred years old. The second group went to Numazu, near Mt. Fuji, where the families of Katoh School hosted them. Students from Fukuno, Katoh School and Sumaura School have visited Portland and stayed with Richmond host families this school year. The groups then converged in Kyoto for some sightseeing day trips.