North Penn students experience Japanese culture

North Penn High School students are getting an international education without leaving Montgomery County. Japanese language and culture teacher, Noriko Coyle encourages students to learn by immersing them in monthly cultural experiences in addition to language instruction. Past activities have included an authentic tea ceremony, a traditional New Year’s celebration – with kimono demonstration and genuine Japanese food preparation including octopus dumplings – and Haiku writing and calligraphy. They also learned a Samurai hat origami craft, took a national Japanese exam, and attended the Philadelphia Convention of Japanese Language at Villanova University. North Penn students can also take advantage of the International Friendship and Advanced Japanese clubs, for which Coyle is an adviser, to expand their cultural knowledge. Some students even had the opportunity to travel with Coyle to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and her hometown of Osaka in 2014. They visited Akatsuki High School in Mie prefecture where they met host families.

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