Japanese 
Pen-Pal 
​Exchange

Students from Nara, Japan visiting our school helped us learn how to make paper cranes. Students made a thousand cranes with messages of peace and sent them to Hiroshima Junior High School for World Peace Day. 

Students exchanged letters talking about global issues focusing on sustainable development. They worked together to make a positive impact in their local communities. Small actions can make big impacts. 

"I loved this experience! It was so fun and if I had the chance, I would definitely do it again. My pen pal sent me a letter about tsunamis. I sent her a letter about air quality and how we have UTA to help that."

Talking Global Issues

“It was cool to see that we aren't the only ones talking about global issues. My pen pal and I both had similar views about the big problems in the world, although we had different levels of interest. My pen-pal wanted to take action and start doing things about it.”

"I became more aware that these global issue are really important to the Japanese exchange students, which make me want to be more aware as well."

Taking Action Together

"I learned that there are a lot of problems in the world and that there are things that we can do to help each other. I know that there is a lot of poverty in the world and that the government doesn't really do anything to help but we can. We can think of ways to help and they can help us when they can as well."

“When one country has an issue, it becomes the whole world's issue. We as a planet have to try and make a change, because there is only one earth, which happens to be our only home. Seven billion people on this one planet, and we have to take care of it. I think that the small things that we do, affect our planet completely, so even if I decide to not litter, then that makes a huge impact. The small things affect the most, so definitely, I will do small things to save and conserve our planet.”

“My pen pal and I talked about conserving energy. We both have started turning off lights when we leave a room. As well as doing this myself, i have also started reminding my younger siblings to conserve energy as well.”

“It gave me a better perspective about cultures. It helped me realize better that America doesn't really have it's OWN culture, but instead it is a collection of different peoples, religions, and lifestyles. It reminded me that other places around the world are different from us, it isn't like America everywhere else. My penpal talked about the water a lot, fishing and the ocean, all things that in Utah we don't experience much of. It was interesting to see though, that despite the differences in lifestyle and environment, there were some similarities. This penpal experience has opened my eyes.”