By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald

Washburn students learn Japanese

WASHBURN -- When 10-year-old Tashina Wachsmuth was asked to name something exciting about her school, she said without hesitation: "We study Japanese."

Far off the beaten path in Bayfield County, St. Louis School in Washburn has only 75 students but what it lacks in numbers and big city choices it makes up for in enthusiasm and a close-to-home diversity program.

This month Yoko Kinoshita Gorman, an English and calligraphy teacher from Kobe, Japan, is on the faculty.

Gorman and her 5-year-old son, Makoto, are visiting her in-laws, Richard and Karen Gorman of Washburn, and will be in the country until April 2. While Makoto attends kindergarten at St. Louis, his mother teaches Japanese language and culture to every class preK-6.

She's working on a master's degree in education and her thesis will promote foreign language acquisition for better understanding between cultures.

According to Principal Betty Swiston, Gorman is the third Japanese teacher the children have had since the International Internship Program in Tokyo arranged for a teacher to work in the St. Louis School in 2000.

"She came for only a month," Swiston said, "and that was too short a visit."

The school corrected this last year with the arrival of 28-year-old Asuko Takada and her 9-year-old daughter, Natsuko.

They were housed for six months with various St. Louis families, each for five- or six-week stretches.

Greg and Donna Fisher and their two daughters Alexandria, 7, and Shelby, 14, were one of the host families. They praised the school for handing them an in-depth cross-cultural lesson.

"Especially living in this small town, in a rural part of the country, it's good to have these opportunities," Donna Fisher said. "The more exposure to diversity the better prepared I think (our daughters) will be."

The Fishers moved from Michigan to Bayfield County 12 years ago. They both work in Red Cliff, she for the Head Start program, and her husband for the University of Wisconsin as a fisheries and wildlife biologist. They are Presbyterian, not Catholic. Even so, Donna Fisher said that the values taught at St. Louis and the opportunity for students to discuss their faith is an important reason they support the school.

"We choose St. Louis (School) for both our girls," Fisher said. "It's like an extended family. The staff takes an interest, holistically, in the children. They're safe and supported when I'm not with them."

The school is also highly regarded by another family that participated in the teacher exchange program -- Therese and Greg House and their son, Ryan, who was 10 years old and in fourth grade when the Takadas came to live with them.

"It was probably one of the best experiences ever," Therese House said.

The Houses moved to Washburn from Minneapolis six years ago. Greg House is a traveling hospital specialist for a pharmaceutical company and his wife is a piano teacher with her own in-home pharmacy labeling business.

"We love it here and we love St. Louis School," Therese House said. "The teachers are phenomenal. They're people who really have their priorities right about children, knowledge and experiences. When all that comes together, (education) really works."

The families said that one thing that really works is hosting Japanese guests in their homes and having them teach in the school. They've learned about Japanese clothing, Buddhism and food. Savory memories linger of sushi, tuna steaks, curried chicken, cabbage, tofu and nori dishes.

Greg Fisher hunts and fishes and introduced their guests to whitefish and wild game -- venison and elk.

The American children "taught" Natsuko to play and explore in the backyard. Donna Fisher said Japanese children don't have as much free playtime as American children.

While bike riding and casual play impress Japanese children, their mothers notice other differences.

"You've got a wonderful husband," Asuko Takada told Donna Fisher. "He does dishes. He cleans the house. He takes children to activities."

Men in Japan often don't get home until 10 p.m. with their demanding business schedules.

The minutiae of daily life interested adults and children alike, but the most important outcome, say the families, is that they have lifelong friends halfway around the world.

The Houses now want to visit Japan and can imagine Ryan joining an international student exchange program when he's older. In a few more years Natsuko Takada would like to attend high school in the United States.

"She is welcome here anytime," Therese House said.

"We created a lot of memories," Donna Fisher said. "Families really bonded with (the Takadas)."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2006