Poway High will no longer offer German, but a Japanese class will take its place. The program will provide language levels one and two starting trimester one.
The official Japanese classroom is undecided.
The same goes for the teacher next year, since the application process to hire an official instructor just began.
Currently, a 5.5 Japanese class operates in math teacher Scott Fisher’s room, N3-211 every Tuesday and Thursday. Akane Shibaoka teaches the class to a group of less than 15 students.
She was born and raised in Japan, so Japanese is her first language. Shibaoka strives to bring an immersive, hands-on curriculum to students, so she’s hopeful to continue teaching Poway’s Japanese class, especially next year as an official course.
“My goal is to provide an engaging and practical learning experience, drawing on my previous teaching experience and adapting lessons to the needs of my students,” Shibaoka said.
Shibaoka educates students on history and culture as well as the writing system, grammar, and vocabulary.
“Living away from my home country has deepened my appreciation for Japan’s beautiful and proud culture. I want more people to discover the charm and richness of Japan,” Shibaoka said.
Students explore the diverse customs of Japan– from traditions, art, and cuisine. Recently, Shibaoka introduced cultural exchanges with a sister school, Higashi High in Yokohama.
This allows students to engage in immersive learning experiences through a more traditional method. Sophomore Kori Kurosaka, says his motivation to learn the language comes from the fact that “…half of my family speaks Japanese, so I wanted to learn too, my favorite thing about the course is learning it with all the friends I’ve made while in the class,” Kurosaka said.
Another student, Ethan Patel says that he enjoys the class and “Ms. Akane helps us with how to say everything, so it’s not difficult.”