A delegation of educators from Japan will spend Monday, Aug. 18, at Central Magnet School talking with faculty members and students and potentially developing a cooperative learning partnership.

The delegation will be made up of nine delegates from Japan, including a principal and five middle school teachers from Koriyama City, Fukushima. Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, an economics professor at Middle Tennessee State University who also oversees the Japan-US Academic Cooperation in Higher Education, is hosting the delegation.

"Three components exist for such human resources, namely, communication capability (usually English), basic social-person qualifications and capacity to adapt to various cultures," Kawahito said. "They are particularly concerned about their role in middle schools."

The delegation is only visiting two states in the U.S. -- Tennessee and Connecticut. The purpose of their visit is to develop "Global Human Resources" in Japan and potentially form a partnership with students and teachers, such as those at Central Magnet School.

"They would like to explore the possibility of partner schools so that students and teachers can exchange information, particularly through the Internet and other electronic media," Kawahito explained. "For that reason, they would like to introduce Koriyama City briefly -- about the city geography, their schools, school life of students and teachers, and rehabilitation from the Great Tohoku Earthquake effects."

The visit should prove to be a unique educational opportunity for the students and faculty at the school, said RCS middle school coordinator Barbara Powers.

"Each of the delegation teachers will do about a 10-15 minute presentation to the students at Central Magnet School," Powers said.

A full agenda for the visit to Central Magnet School is included below. Central Magnet School is located at 701 E. Main Street in Murfreesboro.

Agenda for Visit

• 8:25 am - Arrival at CMS
• 8:30 am - Greetings, Principal and Vice Principal
• 8:45 am - Tour of CMS
• 9:30 am - Students (500) assemble in the auditorium, on the back screen a moving picture of chorus by Koriyama Asaka H.S. (national champions)
• 9:40 am - Moving picture of greetings by 2011 Women's World Cup Champions - including appreciation of Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami recovery encouragement.
• 9:45 am - Greetings and introduction (team leader)
• 9:55 am - DVD on Elementary School Life in Japan (15 minutes)
• 10:10 am - Break
• 10:20 am - Presentation by Japanese teachers.
• 11:00 am - Screening of DVD "Hello, Japan"
• 11:20 am - Quiz/Q&A/ performance
• 11:30 am - Closing -- Please visit Koriyama -- Please visit 2020 Tokyo Olympics
• 11:40 am - Lunch and discussions with teachers
• 1:30 pm - Leave CMS for Nashville