OCR Text |
Show Thursday, July 19, 2007 Page 14 OREM TIMES Utah County Caleb Warnock Brian Kane, a Pleasant (irove resiii'-nl, gol u firsthand first-hand lesson this summer on Ix-ing a global citizen The U'hi High S hxil teat h-er. h-er. who has taught business, economics and entrepreneur-ship entrepreneur-ship for nine years, was one of 40 instructors around the nation chosen from among ((M) applicants for a Hklay all-ex)cnses-paid tour of Japan, courtesy of Toyota To Ix-at out the cometition for the trip, he had to write three essays saying how the trip would help him le a better bet-ter teacher and Ix-nefit his students. He returned from Japan on Saturday night. In the fall, Kane said he plans to teach new lesson plaas, using his experience to launch discussions about the constitutionality of Japanese-American World War II Internment camps and how Japan is dealing with a declining declin-ing population and dramatic increase in the number of elderly citizens. I le also will teach a lesson on the 400-year-old Japanese environmental movement and require students stu-dents to come up with an environmental envi-ronmental business project. Perhaps the most important lesson he lear ned was the importance of having an expanded ex-panded awareness of cultural, environmental, social and business issues facing both the U S. and Japan, he said The trip began with a two-day two-day stop in California where the group toured the Japanese American National Museum and met with the Japanese ambassador am-bassador to the U.S. and spoke with a survivor of the World War II Japanese-American Internment camps. "We did things no tourist tour-ist would get to do," he said. "This was not a vacation." Gene Harvey Chevrolet Sales & Service Utah County's No. 1 GM Certified Dealer (801) 756-3546 221 S. 500 East American Fork Anderson Cabinet & Countertops A Family Tradition in Fine Cabinet Making Since 1 936 796-7522 507 N. Geneva Rd. Lindon Western Livestock Tag & Supply Your c ustom cuttle & sheep ear tag supplier 801 785-3345 345 VV. 700 South Pleasant (Irove (A division of K-C Manufacturing) Dr. IES BROOKS, DDS Proud to Support the County Fair (801)768-9471 325 E. 100 N. Lehi CHUCK AEAMA I 'The Choice is Youn Main Street OfficE Furn'iture (801)756-9505 11 E. Main American Fork (801) 685-8448 3965 S. State St. Salt Lake 15 E. Center Pleasant Grove teacher wins In Japan, the group visited shrines, schools, factories and museums in Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo and Hiroshima. They met with experts on Japanese culture, education, society and environment. In Kyoto, the group studied Japanese tea ceremonies, calligraphy, cal-ligraphy, Noh dramas and martial arts and attended lectures on the movement to reform Japan's sch(xl system to Ik' less rigorous and allow Japanese children to s)end less time in school, he said. Because the birth rate in Japan has plummeted, schools that used to have 1,300 students stu-dents now have 200 and compete among each other to convince students to join their programs, he said. In the Nagoya area, the group spent a day touring the Toyota Automobile Museum and visited the technologically sophisticated Toyota Technical Techni-cal Senior High Schxl, where 2X0 students must beat out fierce competition to be paid as Toyota employees as they take high schx)l courses on how to paint cars, manufacturing, manufac-turing, production and engine maintenance, among other regular classes. The innovative innova-tive approach helps ensure highly skilled employees for Toyota. Only four girls are enrolled in the sch(xI, and the group spoke openly of Japan's problems giving women opportunities op-portunities equal to their male counterparts, Kane said. "It's an overarching theme in Japan, and it was not lost on the female teachers in our group," he said. "There is some sense of inequality. We asked a lot of very blunt questions. ques-tions. I was concerned that Toyota might try to cover up some of the negative aspects, but they did not." After touring a Toyota production pro-duction plant, the group had WOOD FLOOR WAREHOUSE Orem 635 N 1200 W Orem -225-9300 1408 S. State Provo-375-0600 1081 S. University Lunch 7" Dinner $10" trip to Japan lunch with Toyota executives and spoke with experts in Japanese management and efficiency, ef-ficiency, Kane said but the trip was "not a commercial for Toyota, which I admired them for. They were not playing play-ing games. It was really just a philanthropic gesture ... The sad thing about teachers is that we are charged with the responsibility of opening the world to our students, and the irony is that most teachers teach-ers don't have enough money to visit the places they talk atx)ut." Hiroshima was one of the most profound experiences of the trip, he said. Teachers were coupled with Japanese college students majoring in Knglish who gave them tours of the area. "It was very sobering," he said. "It was very interesting to see the Japanese perspective perspec-tive of the war. We were told not to ask questions alxml the war too much because that is a sensitive subject. Pearl Harbor was extremely down-played, and they barely mentioned the bombing. Basically, Basi-cally, it was treated like an atrocity, but they stopped short of condemning America, and stressed the theme of peace and not letting it happen again." While his Hiroshima experience ex-perience might not directly correlate to business classes, Kane said he always teaches his students to practice what he calls "big-picture thinking" and "certainly the concept of peace is a big-picture concept," con-cept," he said. I will not be surprised if I relate my Hiroshima Hiro-shima experience to all of my classes." During four days in Tokyo, Kane said he was surprised by how clean the city was compared com-pared to New York, London and Rome, cities he also has visited. low a 99 Utah 'sl? Wood Floor! Superstorei i r r, f tt i ng ' ju Jf 7 it 801 -WOOD(9663) 0gden5280SFrfeeway Pk778-WC0D Thursday -Saturday July 19-21 Thanksgiving Point Come Support the 4H & FFA! Jr. Livestock Show 4-H Displays Carnival Entertainment Family Funl FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT! q D...cWerffin0s Decorations Invitations Catering Flowers (801)344-8580 1718 N. University Pkwy Provo Come Support the 4Hers Go to the fair, Logan Molyneux DAII Y HfRALU This year, the Utah County Fair is fare-less. Admission to the annual event is free this year. In the past, there has been a small admission charge just to enter the fairgrounds at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, but the county commissioners did away with the fee. The fair is open Thursday through Saturday. "If there was a theme, it was one of involvement," commissioner commis-sioner Larry Ellertson said of the fair planning process. "We wanted to make people aware that they can come. We get a lot of participation, but there's a lot of folks who don't come, so we thought we'd see if this made a difference." Some activities, like the carnival rides, will still charge a fee, and of course food and other vendors aren't free. Ride tickets are $1 each at the fair or can be purchased at the Thanksgiving Point box office before Friday for half price. 'Two stages will have ongoing ongo-ing performances the whole time the fair is open. Prize hogs, steers, sheep and other animals will be taking turns on the Farm Country stage with several Utah County storytellers. storytell-ers. Entertainers with names like Jugglenutz and Heimana will perform on the main stage. There's even a yo-yo champion and a knife dancer. Fair organizers expect thousands thou-sands of 4-H displays, which youth submit to be judged. Last year, entries included quite a variety of handmade crafts and collections from youth in grades 3 to 12, including the following: a woodburned eagle wall hanging, a Lego lion, a babysitter kit, a box of insects, two boxes of insects, a Seven ff JfJ a f tfl J tit I Lf'Jfft ll Welcome to the Fair Timpanogos Inn 768-1400 195 S. 850 East mSPHE MNANmtrkLC STOP FORECLOSURE CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION B01.BS9.0eBS MetLife Auto & Home Lynette B. Robinson Agency 801-785-2498 Utah County Pair When: Thursday, 4-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Where: Thanksgiving Point Electric Park and Farm Country, Coun-try, 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi Tickets: Free admission; carnival rides require tickets, $1 each or half price before Friday at the Thanksgiving Point box office Info: 768-2300, www.utah-countyfair.com Dwarfs sleeping cake, a lung capacity poster, a monkey habitat, crocheted flip-flops, a "Scooby and Shaggy and the Monster Truck" puppet story, girl's space pajamas, raspberry jam and a red-bound original book entitled "The Life of a Robot." All three days the fair is open end with a fireworks display. And fair organizers have departed from previous years' TV show themes, this year partnering with several local storytellers and museums to give the fair a focus on Utah County's heritage. "Utah County has some really re-ally unique things in its heritage, heri-tage, and we wanted to make the fair a celebration of those things," said Erica VanAmen, spokeswoman for Thanksgiving Thanksgiv-ing Point. "Our storytellers this year really focus on teaching people about Utah and Utah's heritage. So in addition to the traditional county fair stuff, it's more cultural." The visiting museums include Daughters of Utah Pioneers and Sons of Utah Pioneers, Pio-neers, which will have exhibits that focus on the history and VISIT US ON THE WEB Lehi 290 for free crafts of the people who settled Utah. This is the Place Heritage Park will let visitors experience experi-ence a handcart and pioneer chores at its exhibit. The Utah Firefighters Museum Mu-seum in Grantsville will bring some firefighting equipment and uniforms. Museum curator cura-tor Dave Hammond said the museum has memorials for firefighters who have died in the line of duty, and he hopes to bring a video showing some of those displays. The Utah wing of the Commemorative Com-memorative Air Force is planning to fly a World War II plane over the fairgrounds and have a three-quarter-scale P40 model on the ground. The Commemorative Air Force is a teaching museum affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute that restores World War II planes to working order. "Our aircraft really are flying fly-ing museums," said Richard Meyer, director of the Utah wing. "There will never be another an-other war like World War II in terms of aviation. We'll never look up and see the skies full of planes again." The popular antique tractor display will be at the fair again, featuring more than 20 historic farm machines. Check it out With a fair amount of time, you could count ... 161 volunteers 137 tents 21 food vendors 106 commercial exhibitors 2,800 4-H entries (youth) 400 Open Class entries, (anyone (any-one residing in Utah County) 25 steers 100 sheep 2,427 aerial fireworks heraldextra.com northcounty Lindon Storage Center Proudly Saluting Our 4Hers 785-0520 98 S. State Lindon TRI-PhASE EIectr'ic Saluting the 4H Participants American Fork (801)756-6008 374-8356 N. State St. Orem AAA King's Appliance Supporting the Utah County Fair (801)226-0351 1533 S. State Ste. B Orem m (801) 785-4447 131 S. State St Lindon America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses Honoring the 4H Participants (801)225-8500 1353 S. State St. Orem Cobcode Shadow PUNT & GARDEN CENTER Buy Direct from the Grower Full Line of Flowers, Plants & Garden Supplies Variety of Trees, Shrubs & Flower Vines Available 801 756-6061 383 S 500 East Am Fork |