January 1 to 31.2006
Sony Science Education Program for Children
Awards Ceremony at Sony Headquarters
On the afternoon of Thursday, January 19, the awards ceremony was held at the auditorium in Sony headquarters for the top award qualifying schools in the 2005 Sony Science Education Program for Children. Awards were presented to 2 Full Awarded Project schools and 18 Encouragement Awarded Project schools. The four top preschools (Advanced Project Award preschools) in the Sony Preschool Education Program for Children were also invited to the ceremony.
Nobuyuki Idei, Chairman of the Sony Education Foundation and Chief Corporate Advisor of Sony Corporation, gave the opening remarks before presenting the certificates of merit. The guest of honor, Yutaka Tokiwa, head of the School Curriculum Division for the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, gave the congratulatory address. Yasushi Mitarai, chairman of the screening panel, provided feedback from the screening panel.
The awards ceremony proceeded with a festive piece from the Sony Concert Band, making the awards ceremony a deeply emotional experience for all of the schools in attendance.
Finally, teachers representing the two Full Awarded Project schools, Matsugaekita Elementary School and Kariya Higashi Junior High School, presented the educational project essays that won the top awards for 2005.
Matsugaekita Elementary School (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture) created a plan that focuses on children learning together. While the teachers at Matsugaekita Elementary School felt that they were successfully raising children who were motivated to tackle lessons involving nature, there were many children who had difficulty thinking through lessons with their friends. The teachers determined that these children could have difficulties forming new viewpoints or ways of thinking. Therefore, the plan created at Matsugaekita Elementary School involves lessons relating to science and Japanese language, in hopes of teach children writing, speaking, and listening skills that will form a skill base for learning with others.
Kariya Higashi Junior High School (Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture) attempted to coordinate science lessons with other subjects, but teachers at this school eventually reached the decision that it was impossible to please everyone with this approach. Therefore, the teachers at Kariya Higashi Junior High School made plans for cross-curriculum efforts to gain students' focus. Lessons focusing on respect for life combine science and ethics. Environmental cross curriculum turns a trip to climb Mt. Fuji into time spent on lessons integrating science, language, and ethics. Students have a chance to study sports science as a science elective. These cross-curriculum efforts and others are expected to achieve great results for the students.
Plans for the Next National Report Presentation Meeting
At the reception following the awards ceremony, the principal of one Full Awarded Project school, Matsugaekita Elementary School (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture), announced that the 2006 5th Annual Sony National Report Presentation Meeting would be held on Friday, October 13 at that school. The principal of the other Full Awarded Project school, Kariya Higashi Junior High School (Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture), announced that the Report Presentation Meeting would be held at that school on Friday, June 16.
Local Awards Ceremonies
The principal, the head of the PTA, and a teacher representing the research for each school attended the awards ceremony held at Sony headquarters. In addition, local awards ceremonies for the entire school were held across Japan for the award qualifying schools, including the Fine Effort Awarded Project schools. Representatives from the factories or business offices in the Sony Group that operate in each region held an awards ceremony at each of the award qualifying schools. There were many award qualifying schools in Aichi Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture. An awards ceremony will be held for these award qualifying schools in February at a Sony Group factory in each prefecture. The principal and a teacher representing the research for each school will be in attendance.
Applications for Next Year
As these awards ceremonies are held across the country, the application process for the 2006 Sony Science Education Program for Children is also underway. Representatives from the Sony Science Teachers Association (SSTA) chapter in each prefecture were invited to Sony Group factories to receive helpful tips for the application process.
The meetings have already taken place for eastern Japan (January 14, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture), Kyushu (January 21, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture), and the Chubu region (January 28, Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture). The SSTA attendees received an explanation of guidelines for the applications and an introduction to the technologies used in the Sony products produced at each factory, which included magnetic recording and MD, CCD, and LCD TV products. The science teachers who attended these meetings expressed very enthusiastic reactions to the information presented.
The last of the meetings about the application process will take place on February 4-5 in western Japan (Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture).
Activities of the Sony Science Teachers Association (SSTA)
Leader Training Sessions for Each Chapter (Chapter Training Activities)
Training leaders from the SSTA chapters were invited to attend the previously mentioned meetings that provided guidance for applications to the Sony Science Education Program for Children. In the latter half of the training session, the leaders had time to exchange ideas for invigorating research and training activities in each chapter.
Leadership-Fostering Workshop
The applications for the 3rd Leadership Fostering Workshop have begun. The planning committee for the Leadership-Fostering Workshop is still reviewing concrete plans for training activities. The details for the summer workshop (July 29-31) will be decided on the March 4 meeting of the committee.
Young Teacher Training Workshop
The following are the planned dates of the 2006 workshop in each region. All workshops take place on Saturday and Sunday.
- May 13-14: Kumamoto (Kyushu region)
- June 3-4: Akita (Tohoku and Hokkaido)
- May 20-21: Kanagawa (Kanto region)
- June 17-18: Niigata (Chubu region)
- May 27-28: Kyoto (Western Japan region)
The leaders of each chapter have been asked to recommend possible trainees for this workshop.
Block Training Sessions
Starting in 2006, intra-chapter training sessions will be held in four blocks: eastern Japan, Chubu region, western Japan, and Kyushu. The dates are being announced early so that trainees may be gathered from each chapter.
- Eastern Japan: August 5-7 (Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture)
- Chubu region: August 1-3 (Chino City, Nagano Prefecture)
- Western Japan: August 18-20 (Yamaguchi Prefecture)
(Jointly hosted by Yamaguchi Prefecture and Hiroshima Prefecture) - Kyushu: August 27-28 (Oita City, Oita Prefecture)
Science Challenge Workshop for Children
Among members of the SSTA, there are some teachers who could be called "masters of the classroom." Students from other schools have a chance to take part in these teachers' lessons with the Science Challenge Workshop for Children.
In 2005, elementary school students learned robot programming at a session in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Junior high students learned about the movement of celestial bodies in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture. Unlike lessons in school, these workshops took place over a long period of two days and one night, without time broken down into strict schedules. This beneficial structure allowed students to investigate a specialized topic over a long period of time. Students who love science were able to pass time with their fun and exciting research.
Sony Preschool Education Program for Children
Local Awards Ceremonies
Following the awards ceremony held at the Sony Corporation headquarters on Thursday, January 19, an awards ceremony was held for award qualifying preschools. This awards ceremony was made possible by the Sony companies and technical offices around Japan. Combined awards ceremonies will be held locally in February for regions that have a particularly high number of award qualifying schools and preschools. Local Sony factories will host ceremonies in Fukushima Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Aichi Prefecture.
2007 Application Guidelines Complete
The application guidelines for the 2007 Sony Preschool Education Program for Children and the 2007 Sony Science Education Program for Children have been completed.
There were not any large changes to the Sony Preschool Education Program for Children. Previously, many of the award qualifying schools have expressed a desire to choose the awarded equipment. Therefore, the program has been changed so that the Advanced Project Award preschools and the Superior Project Award preschools can choose their awarded equipment. Specifically, awarded preschools will be asked to choose one piece of equipment among LCD televisions, data projectors, or notebook computers.
The application deadline is Tuesday, September 19, 2006. We eagerly await the applications and encourage everyone to try applying with your plans for next year.
Only kindergartens and nursery schools in Japan may apply for the program.
"Wellspring of Science Inspiration---Children's Schoolhouse of Dreams"
The reunion for the participants in the "1st Annual Wellspring of Science Inspiration" will be held in March.
This reunion is the perfect opportunity for the participants to strengthen their bonds by sharing their activities and interests in the six months since the Wellspring of Science Inspiration.
The "2nd Annual Wellspring of Science Inspiration" is also planned for 2006.
- Time (Scheduled)
August 14-18, 2006 (Monday through Friday) - Place (Scheduled)
Sagamigawa Village Wakaayu, Sagamihara City
