About Us (MJBEF’s history and mission)
The Michigan Japanese Bilingual Education Foundation (MJBEF) was established in 2008 to create and support opportunities for children to learn in both English and Japanese. Since that time, we have received grants from the US Department of Education, the Japan Foundation, and others to fulfill our original mission of creating a new school for this (formerly called Hinoki International, and now a magnet school in Livonia Public Schools, Niji-Iro Elementary ). In the past, with the financial support of Himawari Preschool, we have donated over $39,000 worth of equipment to the school (see the LPS school board meeting from Nov 17, 2014 ). Currently, we support the school community through activities outside of the regular school day.
In 2015, we started a heritage language program for international-marriage children (Japanese and American parents) to continue to grow and develop their Japanese skills beyond the K-6 program, and to network these families together. We are still developing a minecraft server that will approach the JLPT-5 materials in a child-friendly, immersive environment. We are working on methods to create a leveled literacy library and system for Japanese books, starting with picture books, and to emulate the techniques and evaluation system created by Fontas & Pinnell for English Language Learners. And now through Himawari Preschool, we are ready to begin a new preschool and language camp on 52 acres south of Ann Arbor!! We are currently looking for both donations and volunteers interested in helping our children grow in both languages and cultures:
OUR MISSION STATEMENT (from our 501(c)3 profile)
o To be an organization dedicated to the support of Japanese language education for pre-K through 12th grades in the state of Michigan
o To actively solicit grant funds, corporate donations, and individual contributions to be used in such support
o To develop curriculum for bilingual Japanese-English education, using the best practices of Japanese and Michigan schools
o To provide outreach and education to the general public, both Japanese and American, here in the State of Michigan, regarding bilingual education
o To actively support the possibility of Japanese teachers coming to teach in the US, and American teachers going over to teach in Japan (ie., teacher exchange)
o To assist in creating a bilingual Japanese-English K-6 partial immersion elementary school in the Metro Detroit area