For eight days from February 20th, eleven 2nd year students from Mizusawa High School’s science and math course will visit places in the US including the California Institute of Technology to gain a more international outlook and further improve their communication skills. Before their departure, the students visited Oshu city mayor Masaki Ozawa at city hall and promised to make the most of their journey.
This is the first overseas trip for this school, which has been designated a Super Science High School by MEXT. Each student conducts research on a specific topic and works to expand his or her horizons by, for example, presenting the research results in English at school.
Seven female students and four male students will go on this trip, selected from the pool of science and math students wishing to go. Two teachers will accompany the group.
Six students out of the group came to visit Mayor Ozawa, who cheered them on saying, “I want you to not get too nervous or be afraid of failure, broaden your minds and take in a variety of knowledge, and deepen your understanding of the International Linear Collider.”
The students expressed their determination, saying “I want to learn a lot so I can help bring the ILC,” “I want to absorb what I can’t usually experience, and experience the technology of an advanced country.”
The students will leave for Sendai Airport on the 20th from Mizusawa- Esashi station, flying to America via Incheon International Airport in Korea. At the California Institute of Technology, the students will present their research findings in English.
The group will also visit SLAC and Stanford University, focusing on the importance of accelerators and community planning in the area around facilities to serve the ILC in the future. On the 26th, the group will leave Los Angeles airport and is scheduled to return to Japan on the afternoon of the 27th.