 Classes at Otaki Elementary School begin at 8:55 a.m., but once a week pupils come much earlier to weed the schoolyard or shovel snow around the school. The Middle School starts 10 minutes earlier and ends 20 minutes later. Besides classes, the students are assigned to raise animals or grow vegetables. A
Day at School (Mid) <= |
Otaki
Elementary
and Middle School
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A Day at School (Elementary
School) 
"Snow is melting on the mountain. The scent of spring is in the air. Under the big blue sky is a beautiful river." This passage, written by Otaki schoolchildren express their affection for the natural beauty of their village, hangs on the wall of the fourth-grade class at Otaki Elementary School. A refreshing wind blows through an open window. |
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 Seventy-seven
students attend Otaki Elementary School, which has one class for each
grade. Next to the elementary and middle school grounds is a nursery school,
which most of the students also attended. So, almost all of the kids have
been friends since they were toddlers.
Classes begin at 8:55 a.m., but once a week the students come to school at 8:00, when in the summer they weed the schoolyard and in the winter, with temperatures dropping to minus 10 degrees Celsius, they shovel snow along the route to and near the school. They also have fun building snowmen and having snowball fights.
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Monday through Friday, there
are four classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. There are also
three classes in the morning on the first and third Saturdays of every
month. A typical day for third graders starts with physical education,
followed by "integrated learning" (English), arithmetic, and Japanese.
The fifth and six periods are devoted to drawing and manual arts. During
lunch break, students also sweep the floors, mop, and clean toilets.
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"We chose the names together.
We get to eat the eggs Happy lays, and they're really good! The eggs are
so popular that students and teachers have to make reservations to get
them."
The third-grade class is caring for a poisonous snake named Nyorozo, found by their teacher in the schoolyard, which now lives in a tank. Once a week, when the teacher feeds the snake, the excited cheers of the students echo in the halls. After school, some kids play tag, while others go to the library. They all have to go home, though, by 4:30.
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In addition to attending classes,
the students also carry out a variety of other activities at the school.
One important assignment is to raise and care for animals. The fourth-grade
class is raising two chickens. "The male is named Sherry and the female
Happy," a couple of girls cleaning the hen house explain.