Ms. Kaoru Kimura (K-12 category)
Ms. Akiko Kawano Jones (Post-secondary category)
Please join us in congratulating the 2013 AATJ Teacher Award recipients, Ms. Kaoru Kimura of St. Paul’s School for Boys in Maryland and Ms. Akiko Kawano Jones of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The AATJ Teacher Awards recognize out-standing teachers who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, advocacy, and leadership in Japanese education both locally and nationally. AATJ presented the awards to the winners at the AATJ Awards Luncheon during the ACTFL Annual Convention held in Orlando, FL, on Saturday, November 23, 2013.
Ms. Kaoru Kimura, St. Paul’s School for Boys
Ms. Kimura, a teacher in the Japanese language program for her school’s lower school, describes herself as “born to be a teacher”. She always finds innovative ways to engage her students, raise their proficiency level, and give them a lifelong passion for Japanese language and culture. She effectively collaborates with other Japanese teachers in her middle and upper schools to make their classes exciting and fun, attracting more students to the Japanese program than are enrolled in Spanish. She also contributes to building strong connections with the community in and outside of the school by publishing “Japan Times” newsletters and organizing a “Japan Fair”.
Ms. Akiko Kawano Jones, Bowling Green State University
Ms. Jones has nurtured a Japanese program since 1983 and has not lost her enthusiasm and energy. Her tireless dedication to teaching and advocacy of Japanese education is highly recognized by a number of alumni, teachers of Japanese, and Japanese companies in the state of Ohio. She coordinates weekly Japanese Club activities on campus, and has developed many exchange programs and internship programs with companies in both Ohio and Japan. She has also been very active in outreach activities including organizing annual Ohanami Cherry Blossom Festivals and Japanese American Business Dinner
Meetings to connect the university and business communities.
