Marcella Jones, Student Success Administrator, pre-K-12 Albuquerque Public Schools will give a presentation on her experiences in Japan on December 5, 2021 at about 2pm following the New Mexico Chapter annual meeting. The following paragraphs summarize her experience.
The Government of Japan sponsored the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher/Administrator Program. It started in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United States Fulbright Program, which enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the United States through Fulbright Fellowships for Graduate Education and Research. It was an honor to be one of 600 educators selected, from a pool of 3,000 applicants from across the United States, to travel to Japan in November of 2000.
This unique cultural exchange program included travelling to Tokyo, where we received an orientation on
Japanese life, culture, and the educational system. We met with Japanese education and government
officials throughout the entire visit. FMF participants were divided into groups of 20, and each participant
was assigned to the various Prefectures throughout Japan. I went to the Prefecture of Hiroshima in the
region of Chugoku.
While in Hiroshima, our group of 20 visited primary, secondary schools, and a teachers’ college. We also
enjoyed a number of restaurants, museums, temples and gardens. The last part of the cultural exchange
was a weekend homestay with a Japanese family before returning to Tokyo and then to the United States.
The experience was one of a lifetime for me, as I learned so much about a culture very different from my
own.
Zoom Meeting https://unm.zoom.us/j/95659263711
Meeting passcode: 412105