JETの先生が令和６年度板高祭をエッセイに綴ってくださいました。

ＪＥＴの先生は令和６年８月に板高にいらっしゃり、生きた英語を生徒に教えてくださいます。初めて参加した板高祭の様子をエッセイに綴っていただきましたので、御覧ください。

　　　　　September is a special time at Itabashi Senior High School. Not only does September mark the beginning of semester two in the school year, it is also a month of celebration. For weeks already you might have noticed some signs of something special happening. Maybe you saw the piles of cardboard appearing in the back of the classrooms, students bringing all kinds of unusual costumes and props to school, or saw the clubs working extra hard after school hours. Anyone familiar with high school in Japan knows exactly what this means… It’s time for the School Culture Festival!

Since the start of the week, students and teachers at Itabashi High School had been rallying to get the school ready for the festival. The festivities official began on Thursday with an assembly in the gym. At the assembly, each class and each club had a chance to advertise what they were doing for the festival by showing off stylish flags or doing ridiculous skits. Following the assembly, students plunged in the mountain of work that goes into preparing for festival visitors on the weekend. Teachers are not saved from the chaos either. Every direction one looked in, there seemed to be a homeroom teacher running to yet another task.

What exactly do the preparations look like? It’s hard to put it all into words. It’s especially hard to describe the lively atmosphere that takes over the school. Students transform their regular classrooms into all sorts of attractions including games, haunted houses, various kinds of restaurants and exciting challenges. Each classroom gets an attractive front display that welcomes visitors to the fun inside. The insides of the classrooms themselves are barely recognizable as classrooms once students have finished. Decorations cover the walls, the ceilings and even the floors to create a little world of amusement in each room.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the festival on the Saturday. It was lovely to see the students having so much fun. The culture festival is a wonderful showcase of both their talents and their passions. Most of my day was spent going from classroom to classroom and seeing all of the different attractions. To my happy surprise, students welcomed me into their creations with eager smiles. I was very proud to hear many students using English in their interactions with me and doing their best to explain their activities in English.

Over the course of the day, I played many traditional festival games such as ring toss, fishing, ball toss, bowling and other fun challenges. I also went through a very scary haunted house and saw many more haunted houses with louds screams coming from inside. Some classes offered delicious foods in restaurants of various themes. I enjoyed many snacks as well as a very delicious pudding inside of an alien space ship. In the afternoon, I had the pleasure of seeing some of the entertainment happening around the school such as an emotional play put on by the drama club and an exciting performance by the dance club.

To wrap up all the fun on Saturday, there was a showcase in the gym. Tired students poured in to watch as fellow students played instruments while other sang songs. The dance club also made an appearance which was followed by a student band playing some popular songs. All in all, it was a very lovely end to a wonderful day.

I hope all of the students enjoyed their festival as much as I did! It really was a magical experience. Congratulations to all of the staff and students for making the Itabashi School Festival this year into another great success. Let’s do our best to make the next one just as amazing!