HIS Student-Teacher Relations

an HIS x SHS Exchange

English words: Kate James (ケイト・ジェームズ) and Ena Kanai (金井映奈)

Japanese Translation: Mei Sasaki (佐々木 芽衣)

Photos: The HIS Publications Team and Aina Nishi-Strong (featured)

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**This article is part of a series of articles coming from the 2022-2023 HIS x SHS Exchange Club, a club that began in 2021 as a way to share school cultures between Hokkaido International School and Sagara High School.** For more information on the club, see "A Day in the Life of a Sagara High School (SHS) Student", "Closing the Gap: The 2022 Hokkaido International School (HIS) x Sagara High (SHS) School Exchange", "A Day in the Life of a HIS High School Student" and "The Makinohara Intercultural Exchange" among others. The goal of these articles is to share information about HIS and SHS as club members discover more about each other and their respective schools.**

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Hokkaido international school is a small community where everyone knows each other and works together in a school environment. High school teachers at HIS teach multiple classes a day, making it so they see students in different lenses. Outside of academics, teachers also frequently facilitate after-school activities in order to create a better environment for students. Clubs are often student led with close teacher assistance creating the opportunity to work together to create long lasting memories. 

北海道インターナショナルスクールは、皆がお互いを知り、学校環境で協力して働く小さなコミュニティです。 HISの高校教師は一日に複数の授業を教えるため、それぞれ異なる視点から生徒を見ることができます。学業以外でも、教師たちは放課後活動を頻繁に主導し、生徒たちに良い環境を作るために取り組んでいます。クラブ活動は生徒主導であり、教師たちが近くで手助けをすることで、長い思い出を作る機会がたくさん生まれます。

In HIS, due to the small number of students and from how close everyone is, it is often easier to reach out for help. For example, one of the math teachers Mr. Piazza helps students during their study block or after-school to help them with their work. Not only do students reach out to teachers for academic support, but sometimes students would ask teachers for life advice or even relationship advice. This makes the relationship between students and teachers even tighter, creating a comfortable environment for students.

HISでは、生徒数が少なく、皆が皆をよく知っているため、お互いに助け合うことがよくあります。例えば、数学の先生のMr. Piazzaは、生徒たちの自習時間や放課後に、彼らの勉強を手伝っています。生徒たちは学業支援のために教師に頼るだけでなく、時には人生のアドバイスや恋愛相談を求めることもあります。これにより、生徒と教師の関係はより緊密になり、生徒たちにとって快適な環境が生まれます。

In the long standing HIS tradition fall festival, teachers throughout the grade levels participated in leading events such as trick or treating, performances, and games with their homeroom class. Planning for the festival took place during homeroom for a few weeks before the event where teachers had to wrangle students together and assign tasks in order for the events to go as smoothly as possible. 

長年にわたるHISの伝統である秋祭りでは、学年の教師たちが、ハロウィンや、パフォーマンス、クラスごとのゲームなどのイベントを主導しています。祭りの計画は、イベントの前数週間のホームルームで行われ、教師たちは生徒たちをまとめ上げ、イベントができるだけスムーズに進行するようにタスクを割り当てます。

“Mr. Sim thinks that I can run a 10K. I didn’t think that I could run a 10K but if he thinks I can do it, then maybe I can. We’ll see.” Says Sasha Syrkina, a member of the HIS running club.

Teachers and students have a good relationship both in and out of class. Mr. Sim coaches the running club, and helps Sasha stay motivated for running. HIS is a school who looks out for each other, making it comfortable for all Huskies. Once a Husky, always a Husky!

「Sim先生は私が10K走れると思っています。私は自分ではそんなに走れるなんて思っていませんでしたが、彼がそう思ってくれるなら、頑張ってみようと思います。やってみましょう。」と、HISランニングクラブのメンバーであるがSasha Syrkinaが語ります。

先生方と生徒たちは、授業内外を問わず、良好な関係を築いています。Sim先生はランニングクラブの指導をしており、Sashaのランニングのモチベーションを高める手助けをしています。HISはお互いを見守り合う学校であり、すべての「ハスキー」にとって居心地が良い環境を提供しています。一度「ハスキー」となったら、ずっと「ハスキー」です！