こんにちは。国語科目担当の黒田です。２年生の授業で「美しいもの」を描写する課題に取り組みましたので、学生の作品をご紹介します。
　まず、学生たちは下記(１)～(３)の質問に沿ってメモをとりました（実際は手書きです）。

（１）これまでに出会った「美しいもの」を書き出してください。自分が実際に触れることのできる身近なものを推奨します。

　　炎　線香花火　宝石　鉱物　雪　海　アクセサリー　図面　アクリルスタンド　四つ葉のクローバー　
　　　戦艦三笠　おせち　うなぎ　きつねうどん　バスケットボール　めちゃ丸い石　いい感じの木の枝…

（２）それと出会った瞬間、どのように感じましたか。五感で得たものを比喩やオノマトペを使い表現してください。

　　　カットされたダイヤモンドのような　サラサラ　コン　弦のふるえが体に伝わる感じ
　　　マットな質感　脳に電撃が走る　少し焦げた感じ　透明なお花みたいな　古びた家具のような匂い
学校にドンっと一つだけある桜の木のよう　おそらく樹脂で塗り固められていてツルツルしていた…

（３）上記のメモを参考した描写文を組み入れ、かつ
　　――何がさて私は幸福だったのだ。
　　という一文で終わる物語を考えてください。

　田中さんは（１）にオーロラ、アーサー王の墓、白山の紅葉などたくさん書き込んでいましたが、最終的に「ベース（ギター）」を選び、出会いの一齣を繊細に描きました。

・田中 駿太郎『ベースの前で』

　伊藤さんは最初「宝石」や「王冠」を挙げていましたが、記憶を辿るうちに「祖父の家の庭で見つけた宝石のようなもの」を思い出しました。子どもと大人の文体を使い分け、大胆な構成になっています。

　・伊藤 綾音『光る石』

　　　
　沙魚（筆名）さんは「お台場の海」。冬の夜の海を情感豊かに綴っています。

　　・沙魚『海』

　学生たちは記憶を手繰り寄せながら、各々の「美しいもの」を丁寧に描いていました。体験を糧として、これからも新しい物語を紡いでくれたらと思います。

黒田

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone. I’m James Taylor, one of the English teachers at ICT’s Hakusanroku Campus.

On Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025, I went to the Oguchi Community Centre to lead the annual English Café Christmas Party for local residents. This time, we had 17 children and 5 adults from the Yoshino, Oguchi, and Shiramine areas. With almost perfect timing, we had our first proper snowfall about an hour before the party began!

Just like every year, we started by decorating the Christmas tree. Since the older primary school children finished school a bit later than the younger ones, the younger children were able to finish decorating the tree in time for their older friends to see it when they arrived.

After that, everyone got the chance to make their own advent calendar. An advent calendar is a calendar with 24 or 25 doors, one for each day from the start of December to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Behind each door, there is usually some chocolate shaped like something Christmassy. The children at English Café were able to choose what small snacks or sweets they wanted to put behind the doors of their calendar. The advent calendars were make-it-yourself kits that the Community Centre staff bought especially for the event.

Once everyone had made their advent calendars and washed their hands, it was time to decorate some pancakes. The Community Centre staff used a British recipe and spent several hours making thin pancakes in preparation for the party, so guests were able to choose from a variety of toppings. They looked and tasted really good!

While they were eating, I read a story that was very popular when I read it to children at the Shiramine English Café in September: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” by Eileen Christelow.

Finally, we played Christmas-themed bingo, with prizes for everyone. Just before it was time to go home, Father Christmas came to say “merry Christmas” to everyone!

Once again, the English Café Christmas Party was an enjoyable event for children and adults, thanks mainly to the hard work and careful preparation of the Oguchi Community Centre staff, Mr. Yamashita and Ms. Nakada. I’m already looking forward to the next English Café.

James Taylor

I am Michihiro Hayashi, a faculty advisor for the KOSEN Robocon (KOSEN Robot Contest) team. The National Competition of the KOSEN Robocon was held on Sunday, November 16th, 2025, at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Team A of ICT, mainly composed of students from Kanazawa Campus, participated in the event. This was ICT’s first appearance at the national competition in three years, since 2022.

KOSEN Robocon features a different theme every year, requiring teams to design and build new robots from scratch between the theme announcement in mid-April and the regional competition in early October. This year’s theme was “Great High Gate,” where robots had to stack cardboard boxes to create a gate and pull a cart carrying a team member through it. The higher the gate, the higher the score. At the Tokai-Hokuriku regional competition, ICT’s team “Koubako Club” won the Technical Award and advanced to the national competition via the judges’ recommendation.

For more information about the regional competition, please see the article [NHK KOSEN Robocon 2025, Tokai-Hokuriku Regional Competition].

After the regional competition, we worked on improving the robot for the nationals. First, we increased its travel speed by replacing gears and sprockets in the drive mechanism, achieving about 1.7 times faster movement. We also upgraded the claw mechanism for gripping boxes and fine-tuned the control program, doubling its speed. However, the faster movement made operation more challenging, and the student in charge of driving the robot struggled at first. To overcome this, we practiced not only on the Kanazawa campus but also at YUMEKOBO — a makerspace for students to freely create and experiment— simulating real match conditions until the operator became more comfortable with the controls.

At Ryogoku Kokugikan, the venue for the national competition, robots had to be transported between inspection areas, test runs, and waiting zones without elevators, requiring significant manpower. We asked two 5th year students who participated last year to help. Thanks to their willingness, we were able to attend the national competition as a six-member team.

In the tournament, we faced Hiroshima KOSEN’s “Itsukushima” in the first round and won 290–10. In the second round, we lost to Akashi KOSEN’s “Stackmate” 250–375. The Akashi team advanced further but was defeated by the eventual champion from Asahikawa KOSEN in the semifinals.

Roles at the national competition differed slightly from the regional event, so we asked each member for their thoughts.

Comments from Team A Members:

[Haruki Ota]
　

As the team leader and the operator, I found controlling the faster robot challenging. In the first match, I made a slight mistake with left and right, but overall, I managed to control the robot without any major errors.

 

 

[Haruto Shiraishi]
I was responsible for situational judgment and giving movement instructions. Using my experience as the operator in the regional tournament, I could make accurate decisions and guide the robot effectively.

 

 

 

[Imaru Oishi]
　

I continued riding the cart at nationals. My costume was upgraded with an original apron, giving me a market vendor look. I was happy to show off smooth movements without spinning around like some other team’s robots.

 

 

[Shiyu Sano]
Known as “Prayer Shiyu” from the regional broadcast ending scene, I handled robot maintenance in the pit. With almost no opportunity for test runs at nationals, every adjustment and check required intense focus.

 

 

 

[Ryuto Hashiya]
I assisted in transporting robots and tools inside the venue. My experience from last year’s regional competition was helpful. Sharing meals with teammates in Ryogoku was also a great memory.

[Sansar Sergelen]
I helped in the pit and set up gates during the preparation time. Thanks to my height, I could place the topmost box on the gate. The yakitori in Ryogoku was delicious!

We plan to continue participating in KOSEN Robocon in the coming years. I hope that seeing the seniors’ efforts will inspire younger students to join.

 

This is Philip Cadzow, one of the Physical Education Teachers on ICT’s Hakusanroku Campus. On Saturday, November 8th, 2025, the second annual Ekiden (a team relay race) was held at Hakusanroku Campus. The goal of the race was for each team of 15 members to complete 25 laps around the campus (roughly 670 m per lap). The teams were composed of students from different year levels and teachers. 

The objective was not to finish in the fastest time, but to be the team that completed the laps in a time closest to their estimate. This goal system may sound confusing and overly complicated; it is certainly more so than the usual “fastest team” approach. This design was chosen for several reasons: to reduce the risk of student injuries from sudden intense movement, to relieve pressure on those who were not as fast as others, and to allow more teachers to participate without feeling bad about slowing down a team.

Three of the teams chose 100 minutes as their estimated time, and only one team guessed that they would finish in 86 minutes. The day had perfect weather—clear blue skies with only a cooling wind. There were no clouds, only a blue sky contrasting with the changing colors of the leaves. With everyone lined up and mixed into their teams, Yuzuki Komoto—a 4th year student—gave a very nice speech about the event being an opportunity for different year levels to mix socially. He encouraged the 1st year students, saying that while the older students may seem big and intimidating, they should not feel afraid to talk to them.

After a countdown, the teams took off sprinting! What was meant to be a challenge to guess everyone’s pace soon changed with the energy of the day. I did not expect the excitement of running to be so powerful. The first eight laps were finished in only 25 minutes. Everybody was sprinting their fastest, even though they had plenty of time. Therefore, I had to make an emergency adjustment to the times, otherwise everyone would be far off their estimated time! Therefore, the competition was changed to which team managed to get the closest to 80 minutes total time.

I was most impressed with the atmosphere of the event; the feeling was very friendly between all year groups, and there was plenty of cheering and general enjoyment of the day. As much as I love and enjoy movement, sometimes that passion is not embodied in the many different types of students, especially when it comes to running. So, I was very happy that the atmosphere of the day was so joyous and filled with friendly rivalry.

A spontaneous guessing game of “How many laps has Ian-sensei run?” began to develop as well, his insatiable need to run being an inspiration to the watching crowd. The race continued and each changeover was cheered; each person had their time in the spotlight. Unfortunately, this also brought some of the same injuries as last year, with ankles and lungs feeling the pressure—but in fewer numbers than last year, and it was self-inflicted rather than prescribed.

The last laps were run, and the finishing times were very close! Considering that nobody had a watch or phone to keep track of the time, this was very impressive. All teams were within 10 minutes of the 80-minute goal.

In the end, having a time goal rather than a race was less satisfying to watch at the finish, but we had fewer injuries, more teacher participation, and the students had a slightly more relaxed and fun day rather than the pressure of competition. I don’t know what next year will bring—whether the allure of competition will call me back—but this year we had wonderful weather and good people. A lovely reminder that with a separated campus, events like these are important for social bonding.

Philip Cadzow

Celebrating the Hearts Behind the Writing and the Community that Grows From It
Pauline Baird an English teacher at ICT.

 This semester, students in the 2nd Year reading and writing class interviewed people who inspired them to write a Profile Essay. Several students wrote about family members, took field notes, and drafted profile essays. The writing process itself was valuable; however, the most meaningful insights emerged during the “Writer’s Celebration” at the end. As students shared their work on bulletin boards for the entire school to read (in English and in Japanese), I began to see how family-story writing opens a unique window into students’ developing identities as writers and thinkers.

 The celebration showed that students can naturally use narrative, in English, to explore personal values. As the students shared stories about grandfathers, mothers, and fathers, common themes appeared—kindness, resilience, leadership, creativity, and emotional strength. One student described how a grandfather’s small act—an umbrella given on a rainy day—touched him deeply. These stories were more than childhood memories. They were lessons passed across generations, told in the students’ own voices. Reading them reminds us that writing is not only about grammar or structure. It is also about understanding what matters and why.

 During the celebration, students read comments by teachers and others with pride. They had ownership of their writing because it came from their lives. Many discovered that they could tell a meaningful story, and their classmates discovered how much we all have in common. For example, a student’s reflection on her mother’s positive mindset might echo another student’s story about his father’s compassion. It is not often that all students get to see other students’ writing. Thus, these shared moments make writing public and build a sense of community in a school that no worksheet can create.

 For teachers, the celebration offered a rare window into how students think, feel, and make decisions. We learn what our students value—friendship, hard work, kindness, and family—and this helps us shape future lessons. A writer’s celebration turned a simple assignment into a shared human experience. It reminds us that when students tell their stories, they learn to see themselves as writers, and we learn to see students a little more clearly, too.

[Writer’s Celebration]
Generally, it is an event that celebrates achievements and efforts in writing, where writers encourage one another. The purpose is to publish student-writing to maintain motivation, reinforce learning, improve writing skills, and enhance the sense of accomplishment by sharing joy with peers and the school community.

Pauline Baird