Sorry about the asterisks...
This is an article I wrote for my journalism class, I **** my school name because privacy but I hope it doesn't affect your reading!!
Over a century of excellence - **** history
**** is a well-known international school in Tokyo, and many know that it is over a hundred years old. While that is impressive, not many know the background of ****. I have researched into this topic after I found it interesting, and wrote the following article.
The founding of ****
In 1902, a group of women who recognized the need for a school among the growing foreign community gathered together to form the Tokyo School for Foreign Children. It began classes at rented rooms in the Kanda YMCA building, but the school quickly attracted growing numbers of students from around the world and, within four months, needed to move to a more permanent home - Tsukiji, in the episcopal mission. In 1918, the school changed its name to the Tokyo Foreign School and soon graduated its first seniors.
The school moved to a new 3 story building in Shibaura, however, the building was deemed unsafe after the Great Kanto Earthquake, and classes resumed on the Friends Mission compound, in the former home of the Bowles family. Luckily, during their time in Shibaura, the school opened with a new name: *** ******** ****** ** *****.
Building ****
America's greatest 20th-century architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, made his first trip to Japan in 1905 and declared it to be the "most romantic, most beautiful" country on earth. In 1920, Wright produced sketch designs for a proposed new school campus. Although neither design was constructed, Antonin Raymond, a Cezch American architect, assisted in the repurposing of some buildings when the school moved to Nakameguro in 1927.
In 1933, local expatriate architect William Merell Vories was asked to design and build a new main concrete building for the campus, which was completed in 1934. After closing during the war years, the school reopened in 1946. After the school moved to the Chofu campus in 1963, the circle elementary school building, more commonly known as the "donut," was the first building completed. Surprisingly, the entrance of the school with the words "*** ******** ****** ** *****" written proudly was only built in 2012. The building that follows houses a wrestling room, dance studio, fitness center, trainer's room, and the athletics office.
The modern and futuristic CAD building, or the creative arts design centre, was built just 5 years ago in 2016. It features five design technology labs, a robotics lab, and a strings room. On the top floor, a Japanese centre was built and offers additional resources for students to learn about Japanese culture.
Renowned visits
**** faculty members, alums, and parents have connections, and they were able to arrange a visit for not one, but two George Bushes. In 2006, George H Bush, the 41st president of the United States visited the campus with his wife Barbara. In 2016, the 43rd president of the United States, George W Bush also visited. President Bush (the second one) made several stops on his brief tour of the campus, popping his head into the library and calling out "My wife was a librarian!" before wandering in to greet staff and students. President Bush spoke to the entire high school student body in the **** theatre, his humorous remarks about his life engaged the packed auditorium, with an inferred message of being true to yourself and carving your own path. Hillary Clinton also recently spoke for the school.
In 1977, Crown Prince and, later, Emperor of Japan Akihito and his wife Michiko visited the school to help ASIJ celebrate its 75th anniversary.
Notable Alums
**** is, no doubt, a great school with great teachers, but it has also educated thousands of students over the past century. Many of those students have gone on to make a name for themselves in industries such as film, literacy, space, and sports. For example, Hikaru Utada, '00, attended **** and went on to become a singer/songwriter and producer, with the most successive consecutive #1 albums in Japan. Others like, Steve Hug, '80, went on to be a two-time Olympic gymnast.
Many others include Bobak Ferdowsi - also known as mohawk guy - one of the Mars Rover Curiosity engineers, whom president Obama called out when talking about.
Joan Fontaine, an actress, and an academy award winner appearing in films such as Jane Eyre and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Lois Lowry, the author of the book every 6th grader in this school is obligated to read - The Giver, has won the Newbery award not once, but twice.
*Fun fact: Alum is the singular, gender-neutral term for alumni, that being a male term and alumnus being a female term.*
*****
**** has really had over a century of excellence, and definitely more to come. As the writer, it has taken a great deal of research and shifting through databases to gather all necessary information, but it has unearthed a lot more information than I had previously known. I am anticipating a lot more from the future of **** and I hope that you, as the reader, do too.
Notes: BOBAK FERDOWSI ACTUALLY COMMENTED ON MY ARTICLE!!!!!!!! I feel accomplished and VERY lucky! "Thanks for the fun read! I definitely miss ****"