【SESSION 6】

Thank you rice and our rice field
たんぼとお米にありがとう

Antou Elementary School (Tsu Municipal school in Mie prefecture)　津市立安東小学校
Rika Kawabe, Masanori Kihira, Naoko Daito, Yoshiya Chikusa, Miyuki Hatakeyama, Mai Kawabe, Yoshimi Tatematsu, Mayu Mizuno, Shiori Ohta, Kyosuke Hasegawa,

Aiju Ito, Miyu Kihira, Kohei Ishikawa, Shogo Kihira, Fumiya Hatakeyama,

Shinka Kihira, Hinano Hasegawa, Jura Ito, Yuuka Kuze, Mirei Kawabe,

Naoto Kadohata, Saki Chikusa, Hitomi Hatakeyama, Takayuku Ohta

Antou Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Tsu City. It stands in a rice field, and there are no tall buildings around it. It has a total number of 158 students.  It is known to many local people for education in the practice of rice agriculture, and also, for a sister school exchange program with Kamifuranonishi Elementary School in Hokkaido.

Thanks to the generosity of a local farmer who lends a rice field to the school at no cost, the students can experience the full cycle of rice horticulture, from planting and nurturing to harvesting.

This is the fourth time consecutively since 2003 for our students to join the World Youth meeting.

Since 2 years ago, Antou Elementary School has been registered as a special school for the promotion of English Programs by the Tsu Municipal government. We have started a special program providing students with regular, weekly English classes. We have clearly noticed that students need opportunities that motivate them to think things such as, 'I'd like to tell them this and that,' or 'I want to talk with this or that person.'

The World Youth Meeting is a great occasion for them to express the feeling that 'I want to tell them this and that” and  “I want to talk to them more.” 24 pupils, from the 1st grade to the 6th grade, are going to join the World Youth Meeting this year. All of them are modest and shy, having been brought up in a quiet environment. But we have trained them and they know that they should talk to you cheerfully, briskly and in a clearly audible voice. They really want to tell you 'We have our rice field. And thanks to it, we can get many things.' We are sure they will do well and you will enjoy their presentation.