5th Grade Parents – Mandatory Meetings
5th Grade Parents: If your child is planning to go on the trip to Japan in June, we have two mandatory meetings coming up in October so please mark your calendars now (and spread the news).
Oct. 2, 6:30-8p: PARENTS only.
There will be a short meeting after the mandatory meeting for those interested in chaperoning.
Oct. 16, 6:30-8p: ONE parent & child.
Please bring TWO COLOR COPIES of both your passport and your child’s passport to the Oct. 16th meeting.
Both meetings are in Richmond’s Cafeteria.
Any questions? Contact Saori Clark at saoriclark[at]gmail.com or Alison Walcott at onkculturalexchange[at]gmail.com. Thank you!
Camp Westwind
Camp Westwind Information and Updates
In order to help you plan and be ready for Camp Westwind we have created a set of pages with detailed information about departures/arrivals, directions, packing, meals, sleeping arrangements, and activities.
Departure Planning: Camp Westwind is normally a TWO HOUR drive from Portland. This page will provide vital information on when to pick you kids up from school, parking, and ferry crossing times.
Packing: Plan for rain, think about rain proof luggage (heafty bags), and make sure you have walking & beach shoes. Check out this page for many other packing suggestions.
Directions: Meeting us at the ferry on Friday or hiking in on Saturday? This page should provide everything you need to know.
Cabins: You will not be roughing it, but you will likely be sharing a living space. Details on the cabins, the lodge, bathrooms, etc can be found here.
Meals: Find out more about meal preparation, serving, and cleanup. Also if you have not already done so make sure to register your dietary preferences in the Westwind Portal.
Activities: Hiking, sandcastles, beach volleyball, campfire night, find out more here.
Kurabu Summer Camp 2018
Kurabu is designed to offer children a bi-lingual summer camp experience that is rewarding, fun and reinforces their Japanese language skills. Our program is rich in cultural diversity and 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 Immersion Program interns act as lead teachers each week.
For more info click: Kurabu Summer Camp 2018
Camp Westwind 2018
It’s time to register for Oya No Kai’s 2018 weekends at Camp Westwind!
Many of you are already familiar with this annual event, but if you are new to the Japanese Magnet Program, here is what it is about:
Every year our community gets together at the Oregon coast to build friendships through fellowship, relaxation, and fun! We occupy the entirety of Camp Westwind, a beautiful retreat set in pristine Oregon coastal forest, just north of Lincoln City. Families from across the entire spectrum of the JMP participate, from pre-K through graduated alumni. We share cabins, meals, hikes, tide pooling, campfires, games, laughter and songs. We commune with old friends, make new friends, and bond together as a community. It is an experience you and your family will treasure, and the friendships will stay with you throughout your time in the Japanese Magnet Program.
For more details and to register for the lottery click here…
Oya No Kai Annual Auction 2018
Saturday, March 3rd @ 5:30p
Left Bank Annex
101 N Weidler St.
Portland, OR 97227
Buy Tickets at the Auction Site: https://onk.tofinoauctions.com/auction2018/
Kurabu Summer Camp
Register for Kurabu Summer Camp Today!
Incoming K – 5th graders are invited to join us for Kurabu Summer Camp, sponsored by Oya No Kai and Portland Parks & Recreation’s SUN Schools! Kurabu is a fun and enriching bilingual day camp taught by our Japanese interns.
Kurabu’s bilingual environment engages our campers in Japanese language and culture through fun activities including sports activities, cooking classes, Taiko lessons, Suika wari, Soumen nagashi, and much, much more! お料理・太鼓・スイカ割り・流しそうめん、遠足等！
Kurabu runs four weeks from June 26 – July 28 from
9 am – 3 pm (no Kurabu the week of July 3). Cost is $225 per week and is limited to 100 students per session.
Register Now
JRR Update 4/8
This past Wednesday the PPS Teaching & Learning Board Subcommittee met to discuss next steps in implementing the PPS resolution intended to address the complaint regarding perceived negative impacts of the Japan Research Residency on the greater MTMS learning community (link to resolution here?).
Those in attendance included Asst. Superintendent Chris Russo, 4 PPS board members, PPS administrators from the Offices of Equity, Teaching and Learning, Dual Language Immersion, and Risk Management, and community representatives from the ONK Advocacy Committee, the Mandarin Immersion Program, and the MTMS neighborhood program.
Chris Russo summarized that the above referenced complaint triggered, in addition to an evaluation of classroom instruction happening at MTMS during the JRR, a closer look at the “mechanics” of the residency. This closer look revealed areas of concern that the District wishes to address. The subsequent ruling – and Wednesday’s meeting – is and was intended to address both areas of concern.
ONK argued that the these are distinct concerns, and their evaluations should be isolated from one another (link to ONK statement here?). Though ONK believes that this distinction was recognized verbally by the district – next steps for the committee is to get this distinction formally memorialized, in order to bring the complaint from the neighborhood representative to a close, and to focus our energies on preserving the JRR under the auspices of district sponsorship.
After opening statements from stakeholders, the bulk of the meeting was spent discussing was to address the primary concern of improving the learning environment and/or experience of 8th grade students who do not participate in the JRR, during the two week period in which the residency takes place. There was productive discussion around challenges and opportunities to address this issue, and ONK is hopeful that we will continue to partner not only with the district in creating positive change at MTS, but more importantly, repairing and building a healthy and positive relationships between families in all programs at MTMS.
The meeting concluded with a discussion around timelines for next steps, and clarification that the JRR will proceed “as it has” until a “viable solution around the mechanics” can be achieved (link to time line here?).
Based on advocacy committees understanding, it is our impression that the JRR will likely continue “as it has” in academic year 2017-18. Academic year 2018-19 is the first year the district references the possibility of changes taking place, if in the end, changes are recommended.
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