On May 8, International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICA Georgia), a Japanese-English dual language immersion charter school, graduated its second class of fifth-grade students.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the graduation took place virtually via video conference. It featured a musical performance of the song “Carry You” by teacher Tomoko Hannah, followed by a recitation of the class motto, as follows, by graduates Hashi Friend and Haru Kaminomiya:
“World Peace”
We own our responsibility to lead and devote ourselves to peace.
We are a diverse community of accountable, responsible, committed leaders.
We support and respect each other’s differences.
We learn from our mistakes.
We make good choices, and we apologize when we hurt someone.
We keep our promises.
We show up and we try.
Consul General of Japan in Atlanta Kazuyuki Takeuchi gave remarks in Japanese and English in which he encouraged students to always remember the experiences they had in elementary school. He reminded the students to be kind to their neighbors, and to those who are facing difficulties.
School Founder and Governing Board Chair Minako Oki Ahearn asked the students to think about what they want to see 100 years from now. She quoted from Hyaku-nen-go no furusato o mamoru (Protect your hometown 100 years from now), a true story from the 1800s in which a man in Japan saved many lives from a large earthquake and tsunami and then led his community to plan against future tsunamis. She asked the students to return to ICA Georgia in 20 or 30 years and talk about their past experiences.
Principal Tara Ranzy spoke about the multi-linguistic, multicultural community that is ICA Georgia. She encouraged the student to “be present” and shared the idea of “ichi-go ichi-e,” a Japanese concept that means treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment.
The virtual graduation concluded with a video of pictures taken throughout the school year and then a slide show of all the diplomas.
ICA Georgia has been holding classes virtually since March 16. Students have been logging in to online classes given in real time every morning. The school quickly overcame the huge challenge of transitioning the entire student body to online learning in just days. In fact, fourth grade teacher Felecia Tucker-Jones was recently presented with the Shining Star Award from the State Charter Schools Foundation of Georgia for her support of fellow teachers who struggled with new technology during the shelter at home order and for helping the school host events like the graduation online.
Furthermore, ICA Georgia was recently awarded a State Charter Schools Foundation of Georgia grant to provide remote tutoring for students in Japanese during the summer break. ICA Georgia teachers will meet with students for a minimum of two hours per week. Remote tutoring will help close the learning gap for at-risk new English and Japanese language learners, SST/RTI referrals and special education students.
