January 1 to 31.2007
2006 Award Ceremony at the New Sony Headquarters
Sony Science Education Program for Children /
Preschool Education Program for Children
On Monday, January 15th, the award ceremony for Sony Science Education Program for Children and Preschool Education Program for Children was held at the brand new, glass-walled Sony headquarters building in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Fortunately we were blessed with lovely weather on the day with many guests attending, as a result of which the ceremony became a very lively one. The welcoming speech by the Sony Education Foundation chairman Mr. Nobuyuki Idei was followed by speeches from Mr. Masami Zeniya (Director-General, Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). Mr. Yasushi Mitarai (the Chairperson of the University of the Air Foundation), who chaired the screening committee for Sony Science Education Program for Children, and finally Mr. Hideaki Koizumi (Corporate Chief Scientist, Hitachi Ltd, Research & Development Group) who chaired the screening committee for Preschool Education Program for Children.
Eimei Elementary School (Chino City, Nagano Prefecture) and Izumiya Junior High School (Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture) which were chosen as the Full Awardment project schools, and all 21 schools and 3 nurseries which had been selected as the Advanced Awardment schools received an awards certificate, education subsidy, and Sony's electronics products from Mr. Idei. Upon shaking hands with Mr. Idei, many teachers appeared deeply pleased, which again emphasized all the hard work they put into this program. The live music played by the Sony Concert Band added to the very moving atmosphere of the ceremony.
After the award ceremony, a representative from each of the 2 elementary schools and the 3 preschools which were awarded with the Full Awardment project schools gave a presentation on the big screen of the projects for which they received the award. All presentations were wonderful and many members of the audience took notes and photographs of the information that was shown on the screen. Furthermore, prize-winning essays were displayed in the room next to the venue of the award ceremony. Not only the teachers, but all other visitors appeared very interested in the various unique ideas of science education as they intently viewed the displayed essays and the research outcomes.
After the ceremony, the reception party was held. First,Mr. Teruaki Aoki, Managing Director of SFE, gave the welcoming speech The Main guest Mr. Ryoji Chubachi, President of the Sony Corporation congratulated the award winners and proposed a toast. The reception became a very lively one soon after, where many people actively interacted with the guests, the teachers took pictures of each other, making it a very memorable event.
