Japanese National Honor Society Induction Ceremony at Palmer High School

Masatoshi Sato, Head of the Consular Office of Japan in Anchorage, and a staff member of the Office visited Palmer High School on May 1st to attend the high school’s first Japanese National Honor Society Induction Ceremony.

Thirteen students from Palmer High School were formally inducted into the Japanese National Honor Society as outstanding students in the study of Japanese language. Each student took an oath to be a bridge of international understanding between Japan and the United States.

We would also like to congratulate Palmer High School’s Japanese language teachers – Ms. Carla Swick and Ms. Miharu Hayazaki – on starting a chapter of the Japanese National Honor Society; Palmer High School is the fourth school to start such a chapter in Alaska. In spring 2017, more than 2,000 students from 142 schools in 29 states were honored with induction into the Society. Ms. Hayazaki is a visiting teacher from Japan with the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP) carried out by the Japan Foundation and will return to Japan this year. Also attending was Japanese foreign exchange student Shiho Hatanaka from Palmer’s sister city Saroma, who helped recite the Japanese National Honor Society pledge.