Palmer students heading to Japan with a mission

PALMER — Just like they have in years past, Valley students will head to Japan next week.

But unlike in years past, the students — four from Colony Middle School and two from Palmer High School — have a special mission.

“We will be presenting to the mayor of Saroma a letter and a check from the mayor of Palmer from the money that they raised. They raised over $10,000 from the fundraiser that they did in April,” said Hadley Nicholson, a Colony Middle School special education teacher who will serve as chaperone.

Palmer Mayor DeLena Johnson said it will be up to Japanese officials to decide what to do with the money.

“It will be presented to the mayor of Saroma to go directly to the tsunami victims as they see fit,” Johnson said.

Saroma and Palmer have been Sister Cities for 30 years. A modest celebration of that anniversary morphed into a community-wide event this spring after an earthquake and then a tsunami racked that island nation.

Although Saroma emerged relatively unscathed, its neighbors didn’t.

“Even though Saroma wasn’t affected, there are refugees living there and there are many, many families that are affected,” Johnson said.

She said she hoped sending the check over to be presented in person would make the exchange more meaningful than sending it through the mail.

“This is truly what a Sister City international relationship is, is when there’s a need we can directly connect with the people right there,” Johnson said. “This is definitely grassroots diplomacy.”

The fundraising event featured traditional Japanese drummers, martial arts and origami. And there was an exhibit at the museum of all of the gifts Palmer has received from Saroma during the two communities three decades of friendship.

Nicholson said she helped coordinate an exchange this winter when Japanese students came to visit the Valley. Those students did just about everything fun there is to do in Alaska — bowling, skiing, gateball (fast-paced croquet played at Pioneer Peak Elementary).

They also gave presentations on Japanese culture and attended an opening ceremony with cheerleaders and a band performance at Colony Middle School.

Nicholson said after coordinating those events, she was offered the opportunity to volunteer to be the chaperone. It will be her first time in Japan and she said she’s really excited. The group leaves Tuesday and comes back on June 30, landing in the states July 1.

Just like the Japanese students did in the Valley, Palmer’s students will have a full itinerary while in Japan — hiking biking, fishing.

“They are going to see some different types of karate and they’re going to learn how to play the koto,” she said. “They have so much planned for us to do it’s going to be exciting, and I think the kids are going to learn a lot from the trip.”

The Valley kids have put together presentations on Native Youth Olympics to give to their Japanese counterparts.

“I’m excited to hear what the kids learn from it and what they take from it,” Nicholson said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.