Topic: Sister City
Yokkaichi English Fellows Program Observes 20th Anniversary
The Long Beach-Yokkaichi Sister City Association will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Yokkaichi English Fellows (YEF) program on Monday, July 24, with a dinner and reunion of those who worked as fellows in Japan. The dinner will be held at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden on the campus of California State University, Long Beach beginning with a social time at 5:30 p.m.
Yoko Kimura, director of the YEF program in Japan who is employed by the Yokkaichi Board of Education, will attend the special event. The program will include a video presentation made by a current YEF.
The Yokkaichi English Fellows program provides an opportunity for Long Beach teachers or California State University, Long Beach graduates to serve for two years as assistant English teachers at the elementary and middle school level in Yokkaichi. In some cases, teachers have remained for a third year. William Kevin was the first YEF in 1986 and since that time the program has had more than 60 participants.
Applicants are interviewed by members of the Long Beach-Yokkaichi Sister City Association. The interviews are taped and the tape is sent to the Yokkaichi Board of Education, which decides on the applicants to hire as YEFs.
On Sept. 25, 1963 the Long Beach City Council led by Mayor Edwin Wade unanimously recognized the Japanese port city of Yokkaichi as its Sister City. On Oct. 7, 1963 the City Assembly in Yokkaichi led by Mayor Sukenori Hirata approved the relationship. Since that time Long Beach has maintained an active Sister City relationship with Yokkaichi.
The Sister City Program has helped citizens of both cities to better understand each other through a variety of exchanges. In addition to the YEF program, they include summer home stays by students and teachers and physician visits to Long Beach hospitals, as well as official and unofficial visitors on both sides of the Pacific.
