Lansing Schools to send middle school students to Otsu, Japan

In the late 1990s, middle school students from the Lansing School District (LSD) visited Lansing’s oldest sister city in Japan each year as a part of the Lansing-Otsu Middle School Exchange Program. Then it became every other year. No students have gone since 2008. 

 

That is about to change. With the Japanese language program recently reinstated for middle school students and fundraising underway, the LSD is preparing to re-start the Lansing-Otsu Middle School Exchange Program. 

 

“One of our goals in the Lansing School District is to create students of the world,” says Angela Barry, Foreign Language Assistance Program Specialist for the LSD. “The program promotes international friends and international mindedness. It helps them to not only understand and the world around them, but also themselves and their own perspective.”

 

Twelve students and three alternates have been selected to attend after a lengthy application process. Each student is responsible for raising $2,500 to attend the trip, though the LSD is working hard to help raise the funds. 

 

“They are getting exited,” says Barry. “I see a sense of community building as they are getting ready to start planning fundraisers.”

 

While in Otsu, students will live with host families, attend school with a Japanese student their age and do sightseeing with their family. 

 

“It helps them to learn the language and motivates them to continue their studies,” Barry says. “In the past, students have gone on to be Japanese language teachers or to work for Japanese companies in Michigan.”

 

The LSD and participating students are currently seeking out individual and business donors to help make the trip possible. They are accepting donations right from their website.