(Okoboji)– Elementary students from the Okoboji and Spirit Lake Community School Districts will have a unique opportunity later this week to learn about Japanese culture. Allison Antoine, president of Pioneer Parents for the Okoboji Community Schools, says they, along with the Parents in Education, or Pie, from the Spirit Lake Community Schools, are teaming up with CultureALL, an organization from the Des Moines area…
“They’re a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to just providing different experiences to children around Iowa who may not have the cultural diversity that they have in bigger cities, such as Des Moines. And so this organization is going to be sending some ambassadors who are either Japanese or have a very strong connection to Japan to present to the Okoboji elementary and Spirit Lake elementary school students Thursday and Friday.”
The programs will be taking place at the Pearson Lakes Art Center…
“The entire student body at Okoboji elementary and Spirit Lake elementary will be watching a demonstration on taiko drumming. They’ll have a whole school assembly for that. And then the fourth graders at each of those schools are going to get a chance to do a little bit more of a breakout session with four of the different ambassadors. They’ll do some Japanese calligraphy is one of the sessions the fourth graders will do and then they will be doing some Japanese children’s games and they’ll be learning a little bit about how to wear a komono and tying that and what that looks like, and just some of those different unique things that we just don’t have those experiences typically up around here.”
Antoine adds there will also be a session at 6:00 pm Thursday at the Pearson Lakes Art Center for the general public…
“The entire community, whether you have a child at Okoboji or Spirit Lake Elementary schools or not, are welcome to come and meet a couple of the ambassadors. We will have about an hour long program that will start out in the big hall upstairs at the art center and we’ll have a demonstration by the taiko drummer and then there will be a chance to check out some of the children’s games and just meet a couple of the ambassadors for the general public. We thought it was such a cool opportunity and we’re grateful to the art center for being willing to host our community for that experience.”
A freewill donation will be taken for the session Thursday evening.
