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JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP
"AURORA" FOUNDATION Announces the 6th Annual Scholarship
Winners
January 21, 2005
For Immediate Release
Press contact: Aurora Foundation
Tel: (323) 882-6545
Fax: (323) 969-9425
Los Angeles - The Japanese Language
Scholarship "AURORA" Foundation is pleased to announce
their sixth scholarship winners, Ms. Laura McGlone and Mr. Mike
Dixon. The primary goal of the Aurora Foundation is to assist
United States citizens, who are either Japanese language teachers
or graduate students of Japanese language education, to experience
living in Japan and have the opportunity to participate in various
educational programs during their stay to further their understanding
of the Japanese language and culture. Two winners receive a $3,000
scholarship and roundtrip air tickets from the USA to Japan (coach
class).
To welcome the two recipients of the JLSF scholarships, the Aurora
Foundation is holding the Aurora Foundation Benefit Dinner &
Auction on Friday, September 30, 2005 at the New Otani Hotel
& Garden, Los Angeles. To show support of the goals of the
Aurora Foundation, a renowned singer from Japan (to be announced
soon) will attend as a special guest. There will also be a benefit
auction (live & silent) which is a fundraising event for
the Aurora Foundation (EIN: 31-1639219).
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Laura
McGlone first experienced Japan in 1993, spending two years teaching
English on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) in Hiroshima
City. Since then, she has worked for two Japanese companies in
the U.S., and spent four years as the Executive Director of Kobe
College Corporation, a non-profit that sponsors educational exchanges
between the U.S. and Japan. In the summer of 1997 she lead a
group of high school students to Japan for a one-month study
and homestay program in Otsu-shi, in Shiga-ken. She then spent
a year studying Japanese at the Inter-University Center for Japanese
Language Studies in Yokohama. |
Laura currently teaches Japanese Language
and Culture to 4th through 8th-graders at Burr Elementary School
in Chicago, IL. She also leads children in a Japanese after-school
program in which children sing songs in Japanese, do Japanese
art and research projects, and participate in the Japanese Consulate’s
speech contest. In her free time, Laura likes traveling to foreign
countries, practicing the piano, and hiking.
For her JLSF project, Laura will make two films: one of the everyday
life of one of her Burr School students, and one of the daily
life of one Japanese student in Hiroshima, inserting Japanese
dialogue her students learn. She will show the films to students
at the opposite schools, set up a sister-school relationship
for future exchanges, film various parts of Japan, and collect
authentic teaching materials to use in her classroom. |
| Mike Dixon is a 2nd year PhD student
at Indiana University majoring in foreign language education
with a focus on Japanese pedagogy. His research interests include
educational technology in foreign language teaching and the use
of popular media such as comic books and cartoons in foreign
language instruction. He lived in the Hiroshima region of Japan
for two years and has worked with many Japanese companies in
the United States doing technical translation and managerial
work. |
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| While
in Japan Mike plans to collect materials for further development
of a manga and anime-based class at Indiana University as well
as work similar methods that could be applied to other university
and high school settings. He would also like to work with other
Japanese educators in Japan on manga-based instructional materials.
He would also like to use the opportunity while in Japan to strengthen
his language skills and re-acquaint himself with current Japanese
culture. |
Dr. Akiko Agishi, Founder & President of the Aurora Foundation,
is a former Fulbright scholar and graduate of UCLA and is happy
to have the opportunity to share her dream with young educators.
"The youth of today remain our hope for tomorrow and I believe
we must all do our part to help prepare them."
For more information, including
sponsorship, please contact the Aurora Foundation at (323) 882-6545
or by e-mail at AuroraFoundation@usa.net. Please check the JLSF
website at www.jlsf-aurora.org.
5th
annual scholarship winners
4th
annual scholarship winners
3rd
annual scholarship winners
2nd
annual scholarship winners
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