She may be a freshman, but NormalCommunity West High School student Khadairis “Kae” Mason-Allison is already aworld traveler in a very real sense. The summer before she was in eighth grade,she applied to the Bloomington-Normal Sister Cities Committee to be part of ajunior high exchange program where students would travel for a two-week trip tothe Twin Cities’ Sister City of Asahikawa, Japan.
She got that chance and said sheenjoyed that trip, being able to represent her local community. This July, shewill be returning to Asahikawa for a 10-month span, to study at one of theirhigh schools.
Mason-Allison has been studyingJapanese for a long time by her years. She began teaching herself the languagewhen she was in sixth grade using comic books written in Japanese called MangaBooks.
Her future aspirations include attendingSouthern Illinois University, where they have an exchange program with Japan.Mason-Allison hopes to be able to get to The Land Of The Rising Sun while incollege, too.
Kylie B. Eagles will be joining Mason-Allisonon the trip as the other student selected to participate in the exchangeprogram. Like Mason-Allison, Eagles is currently a Normal West freshman.
“I found out about this program froma sign at school,” Eagles said. “I went through the application process and gotan interview.”
Eagles has never traveled to Japanbefore, she said. But her family has a friend who is now living in China who alsohad some familiarity with Japanese culture, as well. Eagles and her familylearned additional information about Japan from their friend about what toexpect once she arrives there.
Eagles’ research has taught her thathigh school students in Japan wear school uniforms, and that, much as here,kids join a number of after-school activities. Eagles’ college plans includebeing able to major in Creative Writing and Musical Performance.
In Japan, high school runs fromgrades 10 through 12. Up until the mid-1990’s, so did the high school systemrun by Unit 5. In Japan, grades 7-9 are considered junior high level.
Rich Strle is the chairman of theSister Cities Committee, which screened four applicants, includingMason-Allison and Eagles for this next trip. “They are going to do a terrificjob, and I think they are two really good candidates,” Strle said of the newlyappointed representatives.
Their mission is to be goodambassadors from Bloomington-Normal,” Strle said of the purpose for the tripfor the young women. “…To go over there and try to learn Japanese, and to getalong in the culture.” The girls will receive some advance information andtraining prior to the trip.
“When they come back 10 months fromnow, they will come back here and enlighten other high school students toconsider doing the same thing,” Strle said.
While Mason-Allison and Eagles arepreparing for their journey, Miho Kunugiyawa, a senior from Asahikawa, iscompleting her 10-month stay in the Twin Cities, having been a student atBloomington High School. She has been staying with local residents Dwight andCindy Hansen. When she gets home to Japan, Kunugiyawa will have a few moreclasses to complete before her graduation.
“School here is so much different,” Kunugiyawasaid of being in an American school. She said American kids are “a little moreopen” with one another, unlike in her homeland.
As for after-school activities sheinvolved herself in here, Kunugiyawa said the one she enjoyed the most wasbeing part of BHS’ Chorus, and while outside of school just being able “to goshopping or to movies.”
From what I was hearing from thesegirls, Mason-Allison and Eagles are looking forward to the experience, and Kunugiyawa has enjoyed her time at BHS. From whatI heard from Strle, international relations continue being celebrated.
The Sister Cities Committee will be celebratingits 50th anniversary in July.
On another subject, you might recallmy writing in this column about an event called “Competition For Cory,”held at Kingsley Junior High School’s Truman Keys Field on April 14. The eventwas organized to help raise money to help Normal Community West High seniorrunning back/defensive back Cory Ortiz and his family pay for medical expensesresulting from a season-ending injury.
An opponent’s tackle last Septemberresulted in the injury for the young man. As a result of the play, Cory had theartery in his right elbow severed. It was an injury that required emergencysurgery at the time and a total of seven surgeries to completely repair.
Because Ortiz’s folks are independent business people,they were responsible for the first $10,000 worth of medical costs before theirinsurance deductible would kick in during the calendar year 2011. The samestipulation kicked in for calendar year 2012, too. The funds raised at”Competition For Cory” were going toward earning the $20,000 totalneeded.
“Competition For Cory” was aninspired idea from Normal Community High School freshman football team coachBrian Wiltz, who with another freshman team coach, Aaron Ellison, organized afive-person flag football tournament to help raise funds to help Cory and hisfamily.
Wiltz reported to me that the eventwas a success, raising nearly $7,500. There were 115 elementary and junior highschool kids who turned out for the event, making up 20 teams. Through the coaches’ efforts, theevent had 14 sponsors, including Hudson Womens Club, Team 1st,The Great Display Co., Hudson Lions Club, Normal West Booster Club, Normal WestGridiron Club, Gladiator Football, State Farm Agent Micheal Harris, State FarmRepresentative Kyle Myers, Yoder’s Gas in Carlock, and BSN Sports.
“Many of the West football coachesserved as refs and many of the varsity players volunteer throughout the day,”Wiltz reported to me in an email.The kids played in a steady drizzle we had most of that day, Wiltz wrote,adding, “Even with the rain, everybody had great attitudes and had agreat time playing in the mud. Cory and his family were there all day andvery appreciative of the efforts that went into making it a success.”