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【Event】We visited the partially completed school

Today, we visited the school, which is currently still in construction. It is being built with cooporation from the Taisei Corporation.

For the tour, we first went around the outside of the building, looked at the school grounds, and then toured the inside of the building.

Mr. Orikasa of the Taisei Corporation and Mr. Watanabe of Archiship Studio, who was in charge of the school building design, kindly showed us around today. According to Mr. Watanabe, "Straight corridors, square classrooms, windows facing south… they reset the concepts, and thoughts that you've taken for granted until now, make them a blank slate, and make everyone (children) really happy. I thought about what kind school I would like to learn in would be like." You could really feel Mr. Watanabe's passion.

First of all, we checked the precautions, and the route we were taking to go around. At that time, we received pamphlets summarising the concept of the schools design, and a blueprint of the school building itself.

The page the caught the attention of the children in particular was the drawing of the "dream seed" that absorbs the nutrients of learning, and blooms into a dream flower. The question "What's under the flower?" came up, and we thought about the various nutrients in the ground that help the flower bloom. We heard many unusual and interesting ideas coming from this diagram.

We quickly found the water pump. When we pushed the lever several times, water flowed out of the faucet. Even children exclaimed delight in the device, which they had only ever seen in movies. The seaside town of Okuma experiences high temperatures in summer. So we look forward to seeing the children play with water in the summer months, and also to see them water crops in the fields.

The schools construction site has about 250 craftsmen, who are helping build the school. Even though we were careful about where we stepped as we were guided through the passageways, the childrens curiousity was strong, and we often had to call out to them to keep them safe.

The Yura Yura nets pictured above was surprising to the children. It is net-like play equipment that hangs from the second floor into the first floor. It is a common dream of children to get down from a high place in interesting ways, other than stairs. We are looking forward to the day when we can actually see the children playing in these nets. The 9th grade students looked at the equipment and said "Maybe it's time to study for entrance exams…" The exam is very stressful, and you can't find much time to relax. We would be happy if the new building would be a relaxing place.

During the tour, the person in charge showed us a completed image at each position. The eyes of the children who are excited to play in the new school were twinkling.

Next, we headed to the field, covered in artificial grass. We were told this field, which can be seen from the highway, was comfy enough to lie on. So we did.

"Fuwa fuwa (Fluffy)!" "Feels good!" The lawn has marked lines for many kids of sports, but they arent drawn with paint or powder. It is coloured artifical turf, so theres no need to worry about the lines disappearing, even in the rain.

We don't have a schoolyard that we can use right now, so we are using Tomiokas Elementary and Junior high schools yards for physical education. We were happy to hear a happy voice shout "We can do P.E here!"

After touring the school, we visited the construction office.

In front of the office's assembly board, Mr Shimomura, the deputy section chief, talked about the design of the building.

We were told that the construction they are doing now is like a human body, and they are putting muscles on the bones. Even the children who are not familiar with architecture were impressed when they heard the analogy that the building has important "organs", like a heart. The children were brimming with curiousity, and listened intently to his words: "If you have a bad issue in your body, it will get worse, so please do not go into places you shouldn't, and use the building with care."

What left an impression on us, as adults, was the story "Even if we were told to build the same school next year, with the same blueprints, we couldn't possibly do the same thing." The craftsmen who are currently building the Yumenomori school said that it would be difficult to get together with the same members again, and it would be incredibly hard. In a society where mechanisation is progressing, we realised that the Yumenomori school building is shaped by the manual work of craftsmen. We think it's the same with children.
Also, next years members will not be the same as this year, which can be said for the faculty and staff at Yumenomori. We are grateful to be given a chance to reconsider the meaning of our gathering in the same Yumenomori school.

The children reported their impressions of the day, and after taking a commemorative photo, the tour of the school came to an end. The students told us they were looking forward playing badminton in the gym afterwards. It was interesting to hear their excitement.

To everyone at the Taisei Corporation, thank you very much for your kind support today, despite your busy schedules. We think that the various projects will wrap up nicely towards the end of summer. Of course the children, teachers, and townspeople are looking forward to the completion of the school, but our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in the construction. Thank you for your continued support of the construction work. We support each other as a whole school.