日々のできごと

What do you think of true kindness?

Sakura Kawakami

  I saw the man.  He was sitting in the middle of the crowd with his face down, his hands holding out for some money.  I could see two small coins in his hands.
 It was when I was in elementary school.  I went to Seoul, Korea with my family and my grandmother.  We were going downstairs at the subway station.  The station was very crowded.  And there my eyes caught the man sitting ahead of me, in the middle of the stairs.  He sat still. I also stood there still when I noticed that he was begging for money.  People around me didn’t pay any attention to him.  Some looked at him with eyes full of hatred.  I felt they were very cold.  I could not move.  I just stood there still.  
 “Let’s go, Sakura,” said my grandmother and pulled my hand.  I followed her but I was grabbing the wallet in my bag.  The image of the poor man kept on going around in my mind.  He was around my father’s age, I guessed, although I could not see his face clearly.  This was my first time to see a person begging for money.  I was born and raised in the suburbs of Tokyo.  This scene was not familiar to me.  It was so shocking to me, and I also felt angry at myself. Why didn’t I give some money to him? I did have some money to give him. But I didn’t try to help him, like the grown-ups who looked so cold ignoring him as if he were not there.  I hated myself. 
 But what I saw next, following my family, was even worse.  There were so many men holding their hands out, begging for money.  It was a terrible sight, but somehow I felt relieved. I didn’t have enough money to give all these poor people anyway.  So it was all right, I thought.  But was it really all right?  That night I started to regret.  I was confused, and began to make many excuses.  And I felt uncomfortable with myself.
 Shortly after I came back to Japan, I read an essay written by one of my best friends.  She wrote about her experience of seeing a man begging money for the bus-ride. “Even if somebody might give him the ticket today, how could he go on living afterwards?”  Her question really struck me.  It reminded me of the poor man I saw in Seoul.  If I had given him acoin, it could have been some relief for him for the moment.  But I do not think it is true kindness.  I think true kindness is to think about people’s future, consider what they really need, and then make an a ction for them.
 Now I am in junior high school.  I want to work for people who need help.  I will study hard and learn a lot about history and social systems.  I hope to become a person who is kind too thers in a true sense.  I’ll be glad if my speech will be an opportunity for everyone to think about others together.  Thank you.

１０月２６日(月)５校時、小学校６年生を対象に６名の多摩中学校の教員が多摩第一小学校、東寺方小学校へ出前授業に行きました。

保健体育(岩渕先生)

保健体育(高松先生)

数学(鈴木先生)

家庭科(西村先生)
      
英語(藤野先生)                                 理科(新田先生)

　各班でメニューを決め、前日に買い出した食材を調理し、カレーやシチュー、牛丼などを作ったり、かまどに火を起こし、お釜でご飯を炊いたりしました。各班で力を合わせて作った料理は、どの班もおいしく出来上がり、ご飯もおいしく炊けました。あいにく途中から雨が降ってきましたが、バンガローの中で、楽しくおいしい昼食となりました。

和気あいあいした中にも、自分の仕事にしっかりと取り組む姿や協力する姿は、１年生ながら頼もしく感じました。

　６月１２日(金)の５時間目に、２学年の生徒が職場体験前マナー講習を受講しました。ハローワーク府中のジョブサポーターの萱沼重子さんをお招きして「マナーや仕事のこと」について学びました。短い時間の中で、マナーの意味について考えたり、「あいさつ」などを声に出したりと実践を織り交ぜながら、社会のマナーを身に付けていきました。
　最後に２学年の生徒を代表して、学級委員長の宮島葵さんから感謝の言葉がありました。
　

５月２９日（金）、運動会に向けて最後の全体練習と前日準備をしました。１時間目の全体練習では、開会式と閉会式の最終確認を行いました。予行のときに比べ行進や整列が一人一人意識して行動し、迫力のあるものになりました。また、放課後、各係に分かれて、ラインを引いたりテントを張ったりと各係が明日、最高の運動会となるように自分の仕事をやっていました。

　５月１６日(土)今年度のサポートスクールが始まりました。１年生３５名、２年生１６名、３年生１８名の６９名の生徒が参加しました。
　はじめに指導していただく学生ボランティア３名の先生紹介、サポートスクールの流れの説明などがありました。その後、学年に分かれて２時間、自分で持ってきた課題や学校で用意したプリントなどを熱心に学習しました。また、分からないところを学生ボランティアや先生方へ積極的に質問していました。