SCHOOL-PTC NEWSLETTER JLS Article: Madoka Hull, Principal Preschool Article: Yoshiko Morohoshi, Director Translation: Madoka I. Hull, Hiroco Ames

Layout/ Word Process: Hiroco Ames Edit, Print: Akemi Sato Word Process, Print: Eri Nelson

GBC JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL/NAKAYOSHI YOCHIEN

September & October 2011

Momiji (Autumn Leaves) by Tatsuyuki Takano Translated by Caroline E. Kano

Autumn mountain leaves, glowing in the setting sun,Multitudes of varied hues of deep and paler red,Together with the crimson vines, adorning the somber pines,Weaving a splendid patterned train at the foot of the hills.

Autumn leaves in the valley, scattering on the rippling stream, Suspended on the gentle flow, meeting and parting they sway;Vermilions and yellows, countless gorgeous tints and shades,Cov’ring the surface of the water with a glorious brocade.http://www.takase.com/JapaneseCalligraphy/Haiku/Haiku.htm

One month has passed since the new school year began. Students should feel well situated at their regular schools and JLS. I hope they feel comfortable with their new classes, new teachers, and new routine and are enjoying their life at the begin-ning of this beautiful fall season. The JLS new semester got under way with four new teachers, one for the JLS and three for the preschool.

All our teachers are excited about new semester. Every year, we are very passionate about Japanese edu-cation. I truly appreciate the teachers who are precious for the school. I hope JLS students appreciate our teachers’ wealth of knowledge and experience. We ask parents for their full support and encouragement.

Madoka I. Hull, Principal

Fantastic News

We have a lot of great news.

1) Library ImprovementOur library has been improved. We have been using room 14 as our li-brary. Our 12th grader, Ms. Emily Ayame Hikido, volunteered to work on the project to improve the library as her gold girl’s scout project this past summer. As you know, she sent donation requests to JLS parents for used books, videotapes and DVD las t school y e a r. D u r i n g summer, she or-ganized all the books, cabinets, tables , desks and computer

stations. She worked very hard, making four new-nice looking book-cases and two video/DVD cases. The library looks great. She was tireless and industrious. Thank you, Emily, you did a superb job!

2) Building Maintenance JobsThe last two weeks of August, a big paint job took place at the building 1. The classrooms, hallway and bath-rooms were given fresh paint. Since we have classes throughout the year, it is often very difficult to adjust the schedule with a big project like this. Short breaks are the only time, and our building maintenance crew has to hustle to complete different proj-ects on time. Thanks to our mainte-nance crew that is made of wonder-ful volunteer gentlemen. Because of their kind and caring work, our stu-dents can enjoy a safe and pleasant environment. Also, the long wooden benches by the persimmon tree were replaced with the new ones.

New Projects on the way:

1) Paint and repair job for the blue bench and three balance beams at the preschool playground.2) Paint job for building 2 during the next winter break

Principal’s Message

Sep. & Oct. 2011 Page-2GBC JLS & NAKAYOSHI PRESCHOOL SCHOOL-PTC NEWSLETTER

S C H O O L C A L E N D A R

★ P.S. --- Preschool JLS ---- Japanese Language School

October 15th Sat PTC Sawa-kai Tea Party 28th Fri P.S. (Daily Div.) Haloween Parade at Social Hall 28th Fri JLS (Daily Div.) Photo Sessions 29th Sat JLS/P.S. (Sat. Div.) Photo Sessions

November 4th Fri P.S. (Daily Div.) Photo Sessions 4th Fi PTC Autumn Sale (Cookies) 5th Sat PTC Autumn Sale (Curry & Cookies) 11th Fri Veteran’s Day--- No School 24th~26th (Thu ~Sat) Thankgiving Holidays--- No School

❖ Daily Division 6th Grade Lily Kawaoto ❖ Saturday Division 6th Grade Mayumi Irie ❖ Saturday Division 9th Grade Nicole Ayase Kariyone

Congratulation to all the recipients !!

Appreciation

JLS received monetary donations from the people listed below: ★ JLS Board Chairman Dr. David Nakatani & Mrs. Lily Nakatani ★ Mr. Wade & Mrs. Julianne Inouye ★ Ms. Beverly Sacks ★ Ms. Grace Wakamoto

Thank you very much. We really appreciated your kind-ness to support our school.

Marukai Fund-Raising

Marukai Receipts Fund RaiserThank you very much to all the parents who have given us Marukai receipts. This fund-raising is an on-going project. From March to June, the total amount of donation was over $1500. We will put this money for a good use for the school. We look forward to your continued support. Thank you so very much to Marukai.

• Maintenance crew: Wallace Yuki, John Nakamura, Hiro Kawai, Joe Nishi-hira, Ken Nishida, Daniel Iwamoto• Other helpful people: Mas Kawamoto, Joe Koyanagi, Tom Sasaki, James Yokota from the accounting department, Ronnie Takao and Assistant Rev. Kory Quon from the office, and Tom Fukuman, the care taker.

We are surrounded by great people like the maintenance crew, the marvelous teachers, and hard- working office administrative assis-tants. We could never run the school without them. We are also grateful to all our parents for taking an active part in the school and PTC events. Together, let us have another successful school year in 2011-2012.

Award Recipients of Graduate Class of 2011

■Scholarship Awards from Banking Institutions:Graduates who had outstanding records in academics, citizenship and attendance and were in the High School Division and High School Advanced courses: ❖ Union Bank Award Emily Ayame Hikido ❖ California Bank & Trust Award Sho Nioka ■Scholastic Effort Awards:Graduates above 6th grade who had good record in citizenship and attendance and made a great progress academically:

Sep. & Oct. 2011 Page-3GBC JLS & NAKAYOSHI PRESCHOOL SCHOOL-PTC NEWSLETTER

Notes from Nakayoshi Preschool

Director’s MessageWelcometoournewpreschoolersandwelcomebacktoourpromotedchildren.IntheOctoberbluesky,whitecloudsaremovingslowlyandthecosmosisswayingwiththerefreshingautumnbreeze.There is a smile-provoking scene of childrenrunningaroundandshoutingexcitedly“RollyPolly.”Just as the new school year beganwith full staffingwithnewteachers,wefoundoutthatMs.BandaihadtogobacktoJapan.WeapologizetheparentsoftheHi-yokoclassforthechangeofteachers.Butluckily,Ms.NakawakecantaketheplaceofMs.Bandai.Our Halloween paradehasbeen scheduled on Friday,October28th.Theeventwillstartat10:30AMattheSocialHall.Thedetailednoticewillbesenttoparentsatalatertime.Normally,ourroommothersmakeHalloweencraftsand

givethemtoourchildrenassea-sonal gifts, and the PTC funds

the craft material.However,this year,we have asked thePTC to donate themoney tothe school, and teachers willuseitfortheevent.Thankyouforyourunderstanding.

■INTRODUCTION OF Class Teachers and TAs for the New School Year: Daily Classes

lPenguinClass Ms.TomokoNakagawa Ms.ToshieKimoto(TA)lHiyokoClass Ms.KyokoShima Ms.RyokoNakawake(TA)l MikanClass Ms.KumikoHiraizumi Ms.NaomiInoue(TA)lMelonClass Ms.YukaNayuki Ms.NaomiInoue(TA)lBaraClass Ms.KimikoIgarashi Ms.EmikoHasegawa(TA)lSumireClass Ms.AkemiKaneshiro Ms.KaeMiyoshi(TA)lAfternoonDayCare&substituteteacher Ms.AyaEbisawa

Saturday ClasseslSakuraClass Ms.MiyokoNishiyalKikuClass Ms.YukoYokota

■INTRODUCTION OF Class Mothers for the New School Year:

Daily ClasseslPenguinClass Ms.RumikoKinoshita Ms.ShionMizufukalHiyokoClass Ms.MikakoNakanishi Ms.VanessaIviel MikanClass Ms.AyaNishimoto☆ Ms.ChikayoMatssubuchi Ms.YorikoVillalobos lMelonClassMs.MarikoIto Ms.AtsukoOkamoto Ms.HarukoFroeblBaraClass Ms.AsakoTran Ms.RurikoQuinn Ms.AsamiNoguchilSumireClass Ms.RieSnowMs.KiyonoDial★

Saturday ClasseslSakuraClass Ms.NaomiGale Ms.MayuEsquibellKikuClass Ms.EriPoinsett-Yoshida Ms.CarolMaeChun

News from the Piano Class

From spring to fall, our piano students par-ticipatedinsomeofthecompetitionsandauditionsheldintheL.Aarea.

YukaYamane passed the CertificateMeritPianoAudition.SakuraDaley received the first prize for the SouthWesternYouthMusicFestival, (age group of5 yearsoldandunder).Congratulation.

The following students fromJLSparticipated inthe 15th annual piano recital: ShingoSaito, Yuki In-oue, YukaYamane, Tamae Aratani, Miyo Ajifu, IsamuMoustacas, KylieRoss,Hana Lathrop, Sakura Daley,AkiraYamane,KojiYamane.Alltheparticipantsplayedverywellattheirownlevel.I appreciate our students’ effort and their parents’encouragementtotheirchildren.

KazukoYasukawa,Pianoinstructor

Sep. & Oct. 2011 Page-4GBC JLS & NAKAYOSHI PRESCHOOL SCHOOL-PTC NEWSLETTER

AP Test

Last May, our high school students, Ms. Emily Ayame Hikido and Ms. Nicole Ayase Kariyone, passed the AP Test with the highest score of “5.” Congratulations, Ay-ame & Ayase! They have made a great effort studying Japanese here since they were little. We are all proud of their accomplishments.

◆What are AP classes and AP tests? The Advanced Placement program offers college level

courses at high schools across the United States and Canada. Advanced students can take many AP subject courses such as math, English, foreign languages, science and others throughout the year. At the end of the year, they need to take AP tests and pass to get college credits. Grading is done through a rubric with a score of 1 to 5. Above 3 is passing and 5 is the highest passing grade.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT HELP!

PTC FUND-RAISING

■Curry & Cookie Sale Saturday, November 5 $5 / ticket

■Daily Cookie Sale Friday, November 4

Please come and help the event and purchase tickets, everyone!

AUTUMN SALEThe Charity Concert Held by

“Tulips in Harmony” and GBC-JLS was a Big Success!!

The charity concert for Japanese earth-quake/tsunami victims was held success-fully on July 23rd at the social hall. “Tulips in Harmony”, which consisted of six woman musicians with outstanding musical backgrounds, played beautiful classical music numbers along with creatively improvised Japanese folk songs. The instru-ments were piano, Oboe, Violin and flute. The audience was utterly enthralled by their wonderful performance, and everyone had a great summer evening together.Before the concert, some refreshments, T-shirts, and other small goods were sold to raise funds as well. Af-ter paying the expenses such as the cost of moving the piano, we raised $2,171.00. The money will be sent to the victims via the BCA (Buddhist Church of America) headquarter. Many thanks go to the GBC members and JLS mem-bers who purchased the tickets and the people who sup-ported this event. Their actions were kind and warm-hearted. Thank you very much.

Musicians of Tulips in Harmony: Ms. Motoko Honda, Ms. Pam Nobuto, Ms. Keiko Ms. Okamoto, Ms. Ma-sumi Urakami, Ms. Yoko Mizuno, Ms. Naomi Ozawa (JLS preschool mother)

v Special Donation: Musician’s Performance Fee donated (100%) by the Tulips in Harmony

vCakes donated by Babel Cake Class

vT-shirts created, sold and donated by Melody Ames and Amie Nelson

v $400.00 Social Hall rental fee donated by Gardena Buddhist Church

v $250.00 donated by Mr. Winston H. Pierce

Sep. & Oct. 2011 Page-5GBC JLS & NAKAYOSHI PRESCHOOL SCHOOL-PTC NEWSLETTER

Rules for Receiving Perfect Attendance and Good Attendance Award

‹Saturday Classes›♦Perfect Attendance Award: Zero absences, Zero late arrivals, Zero early leaves♦Good Attendance Award: Up to one absence on one Saturday OR up to 3 late arrivals OR 3 early leaves (up to 4 hours)

‹Daily Classes›♦Perfect Attendance Award: Zero absences, Zero late arrivals, Zero early leaves♦Good Attendance Award: Up to 5 absences (5 days) OR up to 5 late arrivals OR 5 early leaves (total of 5 arrivals and early leaves, NOT 5 late arrival and 5 early leaves)

l Students MUST attend the graduation ceremony in order to receive perfect attendance award.l In case of mourning and a funeral for a student’s parents and siblings ONLY:Saturday students can miss one Saturday, and daily stu-dents can miss up to 3 days.l The above rules have been applied last many years, and they are not newly created.

Some students are so eager to get perfect attendance awards. We do appreciate those very enthusiastic students.

However, if students get sick, please have them stay home. We want them to get good rest and recover quickly. Sick children do affect others too. Everyone’s health is very important to us. When students have to miss Japanese classes because there are more important things that should be taken care of, please be absent. There is always a next time.

Donations to TOHOKU

Mrs. Mizoguchi’s Daily (3~6th) and Saturday (8th~12th) classes gathered $28.76 for the Tohoku disaster victims. Thank you very much!

LOST & FOUND

We found the silver colored ring (looks like wedding band) on our parking area last spring. So far nobody came to pick it up. There is engraving inside of the ring “ATMAS AT MAY 7, 2000”. Please come to JLS office if you lost this ring.

Burke, ChristopherGillis, JimHamasaki, DwightHikido, TomHo, ChristopherHolly, LymanInoue, BrianIrie, AndyKariyone, EiKawaoto, SatoshiKohrogi, Acey

Graduation Donor List

Thank you very much for your generosity!

敬称略に付きご了承下さい。

If your name is omitted from the list or any correction, please report to the JLS office. Thank you.

☞

Kurokawa, JohnnyLim, DerrickLindsay, JamesLiu, VictorMassey, DeAndreNagashima, HiroshiNgo, KenNihei, YoshihiroNioka, SadayukiOnodera, RyoOsako, Eugene

Paras, MelSaga, TimSasaki, DouglasShiokawa, KeiichiTakahashi, TetsunariVillalobos, CandelarioWada, David

The other side is blank.☞