2014 Special Projects
October 2025
In early October of 2025, we were honored to host Principal Tashiro, teachers, and 90 students of Josho Gakuen Junior and High School from Osaka in our SLC. It was a great way for our team members to exchange cultures and learn more about our students, schools, and programs.
After our presentations, the students and teachers of Josho Gakuen split into four different groups, accompanied by two student tour guides from our school. They toured four parts of our SLC: The Control Systems, VEX, Graphics/BMD, and Construction facilities. Our visitors marveled at our numerous achievements and were impressed with the dedication it took to build up our program. They were amazed to see students running water jets, CNC mills, laser cutters, and much more. Having a large and advanced space for producing and manufacturing almost anything allows us to equip our students with experience in working with industry-level technology, preparing them for their futures. This is something that both teachers and students at Josho highlighted as an amazing aspect of our program.
As time drew to a close, our schools exchanged gifts with one another, sharing Japanese and Hawaiian culture with one another. Using our UV printer, we manufactured our own Pokémon cards to include in our gifts that Josho’s students were very impressed with. We gave every student one! In return, they gave us Japanese snacks, stationary, and other cultural delicacies that our students loved. This visit provided both of our schools with fun memories, knowledge, and connections that will last a lifetime.
Our team started by giving a presentation that showcased what we do as a program, detailing not just our robots, but how we utilize the skills we’ve garnered to impact our community, state, and beyond. Many of Josho’s students were impressed with our efforts, as we come from a school that’s a quarter of their student-body. Afterwards, their school gave two presentations. One detailed the life of a typical Japanese Highschool student at Josho Gakuen, sharing their day-to-day routines and other anomalies compared to students in America. Their second presentation was based on a science project they performed, conducting an experiment on how dizziness affects different genders. Our students were amazed at their very detailed statistics, lab procedures, and videos that Josho’s students conducted themselves. Through these presentations, both of our programs were able to learn more about one-another and gain a deeper appreciation for our different school cultures.
In November, our head mentor Mr. Lee and BMD student Janel L. were honored to go and visit Josho Gakuen Junior and High School in Osaka. They were able to get a glimpse of Japanese school life and culture firsthand.
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QUOTE:
“I thoroughly enjoyed being able to meet the students from Josho Gakuen. Even though we are thousands of miles away and speaking different languages, I was able to make meaningful connections because of our shared love of different cultures. I especially loved the matcha candies a student gifted me; they were so delicious!”