Tinian high school students visit Hiroshima

Two students from Tinian High School—Joelene Lizama and Aiyla Cing—along with Tinian High School principal Florine Hofschneider and teacher Keiko Manglona are recently visited the city of Hiroshima.

Tinian Municipal Council director James Mendiola Jr. said the students and school officials left on May 30 for Japan as part of Tinian High School’s first official sister school visit to Hiroshima Koryo High School.

The visiting group was met at the Hiroshima airport by members of the Koryo High School staff and news reporters, Mendiola said.

The Tinian High School and Hiroshima Koryo High School signed a sister school relationship agreement in 2004.

Mendiola said this is the first sister school relationship between Tinian and Hiroshima.

Mendiola said the Tinian High School visit was covered with great interest by the local and national media in Japan due to the historical ties between Hiroshima and Tinian, in time for the special “Hibakusha Experience” exhibit arriving in the CNMI in August, which would feature speaking engagements by two “Hibakusha” or survivors of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.

Last week, the THS group took part in a special welcoming ceremony held at the Koryo High School.

Mendiola said Lizama and Cing sat in some classes during the regular school days as part of the exchange program, and experienced a Japanese tea ceremony at a club in Koryo.

He said they had an opportunity to stay for two nights at the houses of students from Koryo High School as part of their exchange program. The two students from Tinian will be returning the favor, as their counterpart students from Koryo High School will be staying at their homes on Tinian this summer.

During their visit, the Tinian students were able to take a tour of the Hiroshima Peace Museum and the Peace Park with a survivor of the atomic bombing, said Mendiola.

“After the tour of the Peace Park the students and staff of Tinian High School gave press interviews on the topic of their visit and the August Peace Ceremony on Tinian and the Hibakusha Experience exhibit.”

The two students, said Mendiola, came back last week to Tinian but before they left Japan they were able to visit other areas of local interest such as the World Heritage Shrine on Miyajima Island.