MONTHLY NEWS
July 2002

Kid-Teachers Show Their Stuff

"POP!" goes yet another balloon in Miss Tanaka's class. She doesn't get angry with the student who did it, though, because she's a balloon art teacher in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, and balloons explode in her class all the time. There's something else special about this class, though: The teacher is a kid!

When Miss Tanaka isn't teaching, she's Megumi, a sixth-grader at Shiodome Elementary School. She teaches this popular balloon art class with her cousin Shihomi Ogino as part of a kid's teaching program run by Yashio City.

In Yashio, if ten or more people sign up as a group they can ask for a teacher to come out to where the group is and teach them about balloon art, wadaiko (Japanese drumming), illustrating, debate, and other subjects. This year 12 subjects are taught in a total of 15 different classes.

One of the most unique things about these classes is that about half of the students are adults. Imagine getting a chance to teach something to your neighbor, or even your own schoolteacher! You'd be pretty nervous, wouldn't you?

"At first I was nervous and couldn't talk, "says one of the kid-teachers, "but after a while teaching I gained confidence." One rule in the Yashio City program is that groups can only take a class from a teacher one time. Because they teach different people every time, the kids can practice the same class over and over again and become better every time they teach. Megumi and Shihomi are now so good that they can make 25 different kinds of art out of their one-meter long balloons.

This program, which has been running since 2000, accepts any kid in the city as a teacher; all they have to do is call up and register their name. Even though it's hard to stand up in front of people and teach, like Megumi says, "When the adults have a good time I feel all of my hard work was worth it."

Photos: (Top) A scene from a balloon class; (bottom) Megumi teaches balloon art to seniors. (Yashio City)