A Message from the Principal
to Commemorate our First
LIFE CELEBRATION
on March 13, 2012

I want to talk to you today about ideas.

The most powerful thing in the world is an IDEA. Your thoughts can change the world if you change the way you think.

Our school has been in danger of closing many times in its twenty year history. Our first principal, Mr. Boyle faced many obstacles, and had to deal with many problems while he was principal. In 2007, Mr. Boyle found out that he had to move to Kobe, so he tried to find someone who could replace him as principal. It was a very big request to ask someone to take over running a school like TIS! It would not have been surprising if no one agreed to do the job. However, one person with a big idea came along and saved the school. You know who that person is, don’t you? Of course, it’s Mr. Kano. Do you know how Mr. Kano saved the school? It was through his ideas. Mr. Kano had a big idea that Tsukuba needs an international school. He believed that our community would be better if we had an IB World School in Tsukuba that offered the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme, and the Diploma Programme. However, his idea did not stop there. He also believed that Tsukuba was the most natural place for Japan’s United World College (a special kind of diploma programme that emphasizes international understanding along with offering a rigourous academic and extra-curricular programme). Mr. Kano was working very comfortably at Meikei High School at the time, and it would have been very easy for him to continue to work at Meikei until he retired. However, the idea of having an IB World School in Tsukuba was something that Mr. Kano believed in. Because of this idea, and Mr. Kano’s determination to bring this idea into reality, TIS not only survived the crisis of losing its founding principal, but also gained a new school building, 10 times more students, and a better support network of people in the city, in the government, and in the various academic and research organizations in the city.

Last year, our school faced two more serious problems. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear emergency that happened on March 11 was one of the most serious disasters that Japan has ever faced. Many people decided to leave Tsukuba or leave Japan to because of this crisis. This meant that our school lost many of its students, and it seemed like we would not be able to keep the school going much longer. Then, on March 18, when we lost Mr. Kano to a sudden illness, it seemed like all was lost. Again, it would have been easy for all of us to accept what happened, close the doors of the school, and give up on everything that we had built.

However, something happened last March to keep our school alive. It wasn’t a magic spell that made all of our problems go away. It was an idea. It was the idea in all of our minds that our school, Tsukuba International School, and our school community were important enough to fight for. It was the idea that no matter what had happened to us, we needed to keep believing in ourselves and our goal of having a world class school here in our little city. Because of this idea, the students overcame their fears and they came back to the school. The teachers wiped away their tears and they came back to the school. The parents looked to each other for strength and they came back to the school. Mrs. Kano and the school board were able to work past their grief and they came back to the school. We all came back not because we were forced to, but because we wanted to. Our thinking brought us back together. Our thoughts are the most powerful thing in the world.

Our thinking is the reason why things succeed and also the reason why things fail. They say that regardless of whether you think you can do something or you think you can’t do something, you are right. Bad things happen in this world that are out of our control. We can’t stop earthquakes from happening, we can’t stop the ocean floor from causing a tsunami. We can’t change the fact that sometimes people die even though we are not ready to say goodbye. However, we can control our reaction to all of these things. When bad things happen, we can use our most powerful weapon, our minds, to make something positive happen as a result instead of something negative.

Today, we have gathered to celebrate our lives. We have made a positive decision to come together to celebrate everything that is good about our lives: our family and friends, our hobbies and talents, our hopes for the future. I believe that Mr. Kano and all the people who perished in the disaster last year would want us to take some time to reflect on what happened in March last year, and to use the power of our ideas to react in a positive way. I hope that you will keep that in mind as you all participate in our first ever Life Celebration and as you continue on in your life. Use your ideas to make the world a better place.

Shaney Crawford
Principal
Tsukuba International School

At this event, we will have performances by all students in all grades. Students at Tsukuba International School study either violin or recorder, and each grade will give a performance at the Winter Festival. There will also be choral performances and short plays (each grade will give a performance based on the unit of inquiry that they are currently studying). The purpose of this event is to encourage our students to be risk takers who can perform well in front of an audience. The event is also designed to boost their confidence by having them perform and then receive praise for their performance.

About the School: Tsukuba International School is an international English-based elementary and junior high school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It was founded in September 1992 to provide an international education to students in the Tsukuba area. In March 2009, it became recognized as an education organization (学校法人) by Ibaraki Prefecture. The school is currently working towards becoming authorized to implement the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate.

We encourage you to visit us during the Fall Festival, come on one of our monthly school tour days, or arrange a private tour so that you can see the school in action!

プレスリリース：冬の文化祭を開催いたします。 (pdf)

At this event, we will start off the day with a creative costume contest. Next, the students will create party games and activities to share with each other. Students of all ages are expected to plan, organize, and run the activities. Half of the students are running the activities while the other half are participating in the games. This part of the day encourages students to take responsibility and to participate with enthusiasm. Finally, in the afternoon, we will hold our first ever house league games. The students will be divided into their houses (Archimedes, Einstein, Galileo, Newton) for the first time and compete against each other in a variety of fun events that require cooperation and creative thinking. The students will continue to compete against each other throughout the year, and the winning house will receive the Kano Cup in June.

About the School: Tsukuba International School is an international English-based elementary and junior high school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It was founded in September 1992 to provide an international education to students in the Tsukuba area. In March 2009, it became recognized as an education organization (学校法人) by Ibaraki Prefecture. The school is currently working towards becoming authorized to implement the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate.

We encourage you to visit us during the Fall Festival, come on one of our monthly school tour days, or arrange a private tour so that you can see the school in action!

プレスリリース：秋の学園祭を開催いたします。 (pdf)

On September 17, 2011, MANA will held “Prof. Kroto’s Science Class 2011″ for elementary school students 3rd and 4th grade. This program provides an opportunity for the children to find out how interesting science can be.

Sir Harold Kroto is a professor of University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. He received the Nobel prize in Chemistry 1996 for the discovery of C60 Buckminster fullerene, which is a new form of carbon. His contribution in science education for children is highly praised internationally, and he has held this kind of science program already in UK, USA and Mexico under the name “The Buckyball Workshop”.

More information:
http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/events/Kroto2011/index.html (English)
http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/jp/events/Kroto2011.html (Japanese)

Application form:
http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/events/Kroto2011/kroto_2011_en_web.pdf

If you are interested in having your child participate, please see the Tsukuba International Camp 2011 page on the International Tsukuba website and fill in the application form at the bottom.

The Open School Day for June 2011 will be held on
Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

Schedule

9:30am: Introduction to Tsukuba International School
10:00am: Visit Language Arts Class
10:30am: Talk to off-duty teachers during recess time
11:00am: Visit Science or Social Studies Class
11:30am: Finish

Reservation

If you are interested in attending one of our Open School Days, please fill out this form to make a reservation. Or, if you would like to see the school, but you are not available on any of these days, you can use the form to request a private tour on another date.

Future dates can be seen on our school calendar.

Various artists will be performing or drawing pictures to sell to passers by. Each picture will be sold for just 1,000 yen, and all of this money will go directly to the relief efforts in Tohoku. You can read more about this project on the Artists’ Action for Japan website.

One of our art teachers, Cheryl Okubo, will be participating in this event from 11am to 2pm. If your family would like to stop by and see artists in action or buy a picture for donation, you can find the event on the 2nd floor hall.

Here is the map to iias Tsukuba.
http://tsukuba.iias.jp/access/index.html

The hall is in yellow on this map, just beside Cyberdyne Studio.
http://tsukuba.iias.jp/floor/floor2.html#maptop

Thank you and have a great Golden Week!

Space is limited so please send an email to Youichi Henbo (nakal[at]hotmail.co.jp) to confirm your attendance.

Please see Kamiyamori Concert Series website for more detailed information in Japanese.
http://kamiyamori.wordpress.com/

The Open School Day for May 2011 will be held on
Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

Schedule

9:30am: Introduction to Tsukuba International School
10:00am: Visit Language Arts Class
10:30am: Talk to off-duty teachers during recess time
11:00am: Visit Science or Social Studies Class
11:30am: Finish

Reservation

If you are interested in attending one of our Open School Days, please fill out this form to make a reservation. Or, if you would like to see the school, but you are not available on any of these days, you can use the form to request a private tour on another date.

Next Open School Day

• Wednesday, June 8, 2011