Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle recently hosted two important language events for students learning Japanese and Chinese.
Washington State Japanese Immersion Day Camp
On March 21, 2015, 85 high school students from 11 schools around Washington state participated in a Japanese immersion camp at Chief Sealth International High School. They were joined by 24 Japanese students on exchange through a Japanese government program called Kakehashi, and participated in cultural classes such as calligraphy, Japanese fencing, Kempo Karate, Japanese cooking, and tea ceremony. They also formed teams to do a playful athletic competition as well as a Japan Knowledge Bowl.
At the end, the top three teams were honored and presented with Japanese gifts, and then the names of students who were outgoing at camp were drawn and also presented with Japanese gifts. This is a popular yearly event that deepens and furthers both students’ interest in and understanding of Japanese language and culture.
2015 Cultural Exploration Chinese Scholastic Contest
The Cultural Exploration Scholastic Competition is an event to encourage students who are interested in Chinese culture and language to participate to share their talent with students from other schools. This year’s event took place at Chief Sealth International High School on March 22, 2015.
It started with around 150 participants six years ago at Interlake High School. It has been held at Sealth since 2011. It’s hosted by Cultural Exploration of Greater China Foundation and co-sponsored by Confucius Institute of the State of Washington, Chinese Language Teacher Association Washington State and Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Washington State. This event took six months to plan. 161 awards were granted including 89 individual and 49 team awards to top three winners of each category, division, and class. Also, due to a large number of contestants in some categories, 13 additional Honorable Mention awards were given as well.
