Oshima Closing Ceremony
Alas, another of my island schools has closed. 今治高等学校大島分校, or Oshima Branch School (attached to Imabari Minami Prefectural High School). I’d taught there for 3 years. I watched this class – only 12 seniors, the only students in the school this year – come in as freshmen. Quite an emotional day all around. Murakami-sensei led his homeroom to the front of the gym, where they received their diplomas in front of the audience, several cameramen, the mayor, and me. The music was provided by the brass band from Minami High School, which sounded amazing as they played their rendition of Angela Aki’s latest hit. The band was roughly three times the size of the graduating class. Ha ha. Next came the official closing ceremony, where the school flag is given back to the city. Afterward, the graduates made their way to their old home room for one last intimate moment. Murakami-sensei delivered a thanks speech, and presented each student with a special certificate, separate from their diploma. He shook their hands, they wept, yelled their thanks to their parents who lined the back of the room, and sat down again. I was really, really proud. I went in afterward and shook their hands and congratulated them individually. What a day. I started with seven schools, and now I’m down to five. But I have great memories of both that closed. Side note: I usually do not show my students’ faces in pictures out of an abundance of caution, but these are no longer my students!
