CHESS 2006 - Day TWO - 50
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
Once again this year I participated in a 3-day camp for High School students here in Shimane. The camp is called CHESS (Camp for High School English Students of Shimane) and it's been taking place in my prefecture for about 15 years now.
Last year we had about 80 students and we gathered at a facility in Gotsu, but this year we had less students, about 60, and we gathered at a different facility near Mt. Sanbe.
The other change for me from last year was my assignment - last year I was an assitant group leader, sheperding a group of 7 students around for the 3 days, helping them prepare a skit to perform on the final day. That was cool, cuz I got to bond with that small group of kids.
This year, I was put in charge of a workshop - The Tricky Mysteries (Trivia) workshop, so I got to see all ten groups over the course of 5 workshops. This was also fun, as I love trivia and it was fun to see all the groups competing. Also, it gave me a little more free time to simply interact with all the kids, as I had none of the pressure of trying to get the skit ready for Sunday.
Oh yeah, the camp was on a Friday thru Sunday this year, which was a change from the midweek schedule last year.
And the final day of the camp was also the day of my Mom's birthday, the Wimbledon tennis final and the World Cup soccer final. It was a busy weekend! :)
So click on this picture and you'll be taken to my online site which has about 70 or 80 pics from CHESS this year.
The coolest thing for me at CHESS is getting to actually have conversations in ENglish with students. Most of the kids who come to the camp really like English, and since they're older than the students I teach at Jr High or Elementary school, they can actually talk to you in English - which is so Cool!
And I got to see some of my former Jr High students who are now in High School.
Anyway - it was three days of heat, mosquitos, "viking-style" meals, one cold shower, late nights and I loved it all - one of the best work-related activities I do ALL year. Can't wait to go again next year for my final time.
-Jason
2 comments:
Hello Jason,
My name is Patrick and I have been reading your blog since i started the application process to become a JET. I will be moving to Hokkaido this august to be an ALT, and I would like to thank you for your interesting and educational posts about Japan and life as an ALT in Japan. I have really enjoyed them and look forward to reading many in the future.
The camp sounds really fun, I hope I have similar opportunity in Hokkaido.
Take care,
Patrick
Thanks for your hard work during CHESS this year.
What will you do next year? Group leader or workshop leader? Having done both now, which do you prefer?
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