Oya No Kai, Inc.

Overview

Oya No Kai is the parent organization that supports the Japanese Immersion Program in Portland Public Schools. It is managed by a volunteer board of directors consisting primarily of parents of students in the program.

Website: https://oyanokai.org/

Contact: info@oyanokai.org

Mission 目標

Oya No Kai’s mission is to enhance the level of cultural education in the Japanese Immersion Program at Portland Public Schools. We support student success by fostering a robust intern program that supports our teachers, by creating opportunities for students to experience Japanese culture directly through cultural exchanges, and by organizing community events. It is our hope that when our students graduate, they will be better prepared and more knowledgeable of the world around them.

Motto: Three Schools, Two Languages, One Community

Equity and Inclusion: We celebrate and embrace the diversity made possible by race, ethnicity, gender identity, ancestry, place of origin, color, citizenship, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, political affiliation and ability.

History 親の会の歴史

Oya No Kai, which means “Parent Group” in Japanese, was formed in 1989 by parents to serve the children and their families, and staff of the Japanese Magnet Program (JMP) of Portland Public Schools (now referred to as the “Japanese Dual Language” or “Japanese Immersion” Program). In the first years when it was a magnet program at Richmond Elementary, parents recognized that because students came from all parts of the city to attend the school, there was a need to build a sense of community and establish networking among families to ensure success of the educational program.

In 1992, Oya No Kai formed a board of directors, developed a committee structure, and formulated a mission statement with goals and objectives. Oya No Kai became incorporated in 1993 and in 1997, gained non-profit status.

Today, we have up to 20 interns in any given year and over 1000 students in the program. We have sixteen members on the Board of Directors, two contracted service providers to manage our Intern and Cultural Exchange programs and instruct interns in English and culture classes, and countless community volunteers.

To achieve our goals, Oya No Kai:

• Fundraises for the Intern Program and Cultural Exchanges.
• Financially supports the Intern Program which provides teaching assistants in all Japanese classrooms.
• Provides planning and financial support for the 5th grade Cultural Exchange, 8th Grade Research Residency, and High School Summer Institute.
• Creates community awareness of the Japanese Immersion Program.
• Promotes home-stay experiences within our schools’ community.
• Sponsors and coordinates Kurabu, a summer Japanese language and culture day camp.
• Sponsors and coordinates Camp Westwind for Japanese Immersion families.
• Coordinates visits to our schools from our Japanese sister city schools.
• Participates in community events such as Richmond’s Spring Festival, and Uwajimaya Summer Festival.

Core Programs and Activities プログラムとアクティビティ

5th Grade Cultural Exchange

In the summer after the completion of 5th grade, Richmond students have the opportunity to travel on either a ten day trip to the Kansai area or Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido. These cultural exchanges are culminating experiences for both students and parents, after six years of hard work of being immersed in the Japanese language.

The main objectives of the 5th Grade Japanese 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 home stay experience.
• To have a culminating experience for six years of learning Japanese.

8th Grade Japan Research Residency

The Japan Research Residency (JRR) serves as the “capstone” academic experience for 8th graders enrolled in the Japanese Dual Language Immersion (JDLI) Program at Mt. Tabor Middle School. This two-week integrated academic cultural exchange to Japan in the spring provides 8th grade Japanese Immersion students at Mt. Tabor Middle School the opportunity to utilize their language skills and cultural understanding to explore and conduct research in rural and urban areas of Hiroshima, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures.

Students must meet both academic and behavior requirements as well as take an active role in the design and preparations of the cultural exchange to participate in this school sponsored cultural exchange.

The Japan Research Residency is an academic experience offered to JDLI students by Portland Public Schools. The trip is PPS-facilitated (not sponsored) and is not a required trip. Oya No Kai is pleased to support PPS and the JRR with scholarships and administrative assistance.

The purpose of the JRR is to:

• Apply classroom learning of Japanese language and culture in Japan.
• Increase proficiency in oral and written Japanese as well as cross cultural communication.
• Conduct hands-on research related to math, science, social studies, language arts and Japanese. Projects are begun prior to departure and conclude with major written and oral presentations in both English and Japanese upon return. The oral presentation serves as a required state writing sample and field study assignment, and project requirements are aligned to state standards for all content areas.
• Make human connections with their Japanese peers and families

High School Sapporo Summer Institute

During the summer following their sophomore or junior year, SOGO (Intermediate to Advanced Japanese Immersion Program classes) course students at Grant High School may participate in an intensive four-week summer institute, or “Kakikenshu”, in Sapporo-city. This institute involves high-level language studies coupled with extensive field study experiences. These experiences are then connected to the students’ capstone community service projects.

Oya No Kai would like to recognize the Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association and the city of Sapporo for their support of this exchange.

Inbound Exchanges

Throughout the year, students from several Japanese schools visit Portland. Oya No Kai, Inc. sponsors these inbound exchanges by coordinating home stays, activities for students and chaperones, and school visits. Often these groups are from our sister schools where Japanese Immersion Program students have visited during their 5th, 8th, and high school cultural exchanges. Richmond Elementary, Mt. Tabor Middle School, and Grant High School all host visiting groups.

Camp Westwind

Westwind is a non-profit camp on the Oregon coast where Oya No Kai has hosted family weekends for over 20 years. These weekends enable the entire JDLI community to come together and build friendships through fellowship, relaxation, and fun. Families of students from kindergarten through 12th grade are welcome.

Kurabu Summer Camp

Kurabu is a Japanese summer day camp for children who are entering kindergarten through fifth grade in the coming fall 2024 (that’s current pre-K through 4th grade students) and are currently in a Japanese immersion program or who speak Japanese at home. Kurabu is designed to offer children a bi-lingual summer camp experience that is rewarding, fun and reinforces their Japanese language skills.

Kurabu serves Japanese and non-Japanese children from the Portland Metro Region. All of our staff and volunteers have either studied Japanese, are bi-lingual or native speakers, and come to us from local and Japanese schools, universities and the community. The Japanese Dual Language Immersion Program interns act as lead teachers each week.

Annual Benefit

The benefit is our most important fundraiser of the year, and we need your support to make it a success! This fundraising event supports Japanese interns in our classrooms, lowers the cost of our cultural exchanges to Japan, provides trip scholarships, and helps us welcome students from our partner schools in Japan.