Farewell Shimomura sensei
On Monday, students in Prep to Year 6 gathered in the Savio Centre to farewell Shizuoka Salesio teacher exchange participant, Akihiro Shimomura.
The gathering began with a heartfelt speech from Shimomura sensei about his time spent at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. He presented the College with the calligraphy artwork he produced using pony Melody¡¯s tail hair ¨C our College motto ¡°Live by the Truth¡± in Japanese (ÕæÉú shinsei) (see last week¡¯s newsletter), and also some proper Japanese calligraphy sets for our students to use. He then entranced and entertained the audience with some magical saxophone playing, accompanied by a slideshow of some of his favourite photos taken of and with our students.
Student leaders Priyannika Kumrai and Klay Mustchin presented Shimomura sensei with a book complied of signatures, photographs and messages from our students, expressing their gratitude for his wonderful guidance and support in Japanese and music lessons. At seeing his overwhelmed response to the gift, many students were brought to tears at the thought of having to say farewell to their beloved companion.
Ms Gilligan spoke of how grateful she was for Shimomura sensei¡¯s wonderful participation in the life of the College and community during his time with us, and together with Mr Casni, presented him with a ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ scarf to remind him of his time with us. She summed up his time at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ perfectly when she stated, ¡°I never imagined that we would have such an amazing person come here to be our first exchange teacher.¡±
The gathering was brought to a close by the students in Years 2-6 singing and signing ¡°sekaijuu no kodomotachi ga¡± (¡°Children Around the World¡±) for Shimomura sensei as a final parting gift of song and joy.
We are so grateful to have had Shimomura sensei with us this term, and we will hold the memories of his time at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ dear to our hearts. ±¾µ±¤Ë¤¢¤ê¤¬¤È¤¦¤´¤¶¤¤¤Þ¤·¤¿¡£(hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita ¨C Truly thank you very much).
Mrs Belinda Kumashiro - Japanese Teacher
A Catholic School in the Salesian Tradition
