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The theme of the 1999 Camphor Festival, named after the large tree growing on the school grounds, was "The Egg"--breaking out of your shell and evolving. The athletic meet, which was held on the school's spacious grounds, featured basketball, volleyball, and even kickball.

Kanagawa University High School

The school festival, field day, and other big days students look forward to

1 School Festival

The camphor tree you see straight ahead of you as you enter the school's main gate not only provides shade and enhances the beauty of the schoolyard; it's also the school symbol. The school festival, which takes place every autumn, is thus called the Camphor Tree Festival.

The festival has a different theme each year. The theme of the 1999 festival, held on October 9 and 10, was "The Egg"--the concept of breaking out of your shell and growing or evolving. Each class does a different project based on the theme. In a visitors' ballot on which presentations they liked the best, the class that came in first was eighth grade class F. Students cultivated kenaf, a plant that is attracting attention as an alternative to tree-based papers, keeping a diary of its growth and putting together a report on the state of paper recycling today. They also handed out kenaf seeds to visitors and appealed for the conservation of resources. At various places in the schoolyard, kenaf plants were growing tall, prompting one of the project's leaders to claim, "I'm ecstatic about the prize. It's great to know that our efforts to raise the plants for the Camphor Festival, which began even before summer vacation, was rated so highly."

The middle school student council, meanwhile, worked with the Nature Conservation Society of Japan, to make fund collections and hold a bazaar to benefit the society. "I had never been involved in a bazaar before," a council member admitted, "and so I was worried at first about whether we could really raise money. But I'm really glad that so many people bought the postcards and tote bags we had on sale." Other activities at the festival included a concert by the music club, a theatrical production by the drama club, and performances by student bands. The festival program was packed, and the two days passed in all too quickly.

There were 5,700 guests from outside the school. No doubt there were quite a number of elementary-school students interested in one day attending Kanagawa University High School.

 


2 Athletic Meet

The annual schoolwide athletic meet was held on September 25 under a blue sky in 1999. A trace of summer heat lingered in the air. Voices of students in sportswear were heard yelling "Ganbare!" (Keep it up!) to cheer on their classmates. "We beat class C in volleyball," elated another group. At Kanagawa University High School, classes compete against each other in a variety of events, including basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, kickball, tug-of-war, and kibasen, a game in which teams of "riders" standing on "horses" of three people try to make other teams' riders fall. The students participate in the contest they're best at, but some events call for all class members to take part.

The meet is run by an operating committee composed of two students from each class, who are elected by their classmates to serve as representatives. The operating committee takes care of everything needed to make the games run smoothly. For example, it puts together the roster of competitors and makes out the schedule of events. Committee members usually begin organizing the meet before the start of summer vacation.

 
The students experience the fun of sports and athletic competition on a daily basis in their gym classes and club activities. But the schoolwide athletic meet makes everyone feel especially competitive. It's a way of showing each class's cooperative spirit.
Even as the kids rushed to finish their box lunches, they continued to root for their classes. "As long as we're competing, I don't want to lose," claimed one student. "We spend a lot of time together because we're in the same class, but events like this really give us a chance to work together as a team."

For the meet itself, the students dress up in their team colors, heightening the drama of athletic competition. It's a fun-filled day, with all students working up a sweat and growing hoarse from cheering. The action continues without interruption from 9:00 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon, when the closing ceremony is held.