Cultural Exchange Programs

Students from Japan and the U.S. collaborate on projects, showcasing diverse cultures and building friendships during educational events with playful and engaging atmospheres.

Ryan Smith, the Camp Lejeune Community Superintendent, gives a speech at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 10, 2023. Jonathan Willis, a special education teacher at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on MCB Camp Lejeune, was selected as the Mid-Atlantic District Teacher of the year out of a district that spans from New York to Puerto Rico.
Ryan Smith, the Camp Lejeune Community Superintendent, gives a speech at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 10, 2023. Jonathan Willis, a special education teacher at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on MCB Camp Lejeune, was selected as the Mid-Atlantic District Teacher of the year out of a district that spans from New York to Puerto Rico.
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YOKOSUKA, Japan (Feb. 5, 2023) - Japanese and American students collaborate in presenting a poster they made during the MOFA/DODEA Youth Exchange Program 2023 at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosukas (CFAY) Yokosuka Middle High School, Feb. 5, 2023. During the two-day educational and cultural exchange event, American students from Nile C. Kinnick High School and Japanese students from various Yokosuka schools forged new friendships by tackling group projects together, strengthening the relationship between the base and local community. For 75 years, CFAY has provided, maintained, and operated base facilities and services in support of the U.S. 7th Fleet's forward-deployed naval forces, tenant commands, and thousands of military and civilian personnel and their families.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Team members from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks received the Judges' Innovation Award during NASA's 2014 Robotic Mining Competition awards ceremony inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. More than 35 teams from colleges and universities around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots for the mining competition.The competition is a NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate project designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields by expanding opportunities for student research and design. Teams use their remote-controlled robotics to maneuver and dig in a supersized sandbox filled with a crushed material that has characteristics similar to Martian soil. The objective of the challenge is to see which teams robot can collect and move the most regolith within a specified amount of time. The competition includes o
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Japanese and American students present their final project during the MOFA/DODEA Youth Exchange Program 2022 at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebos E.J. King Middle High School Oct. 16, 2022. During the two-day educational and cultural exchange event, American students from E.J. King Middle High School and Japanese students from Sasebo schools forged new friendships by tackling group projects together, strengthening the relationship between the base and local community.
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U.S. service members pose for a group photo during a naturalization ceremony hosted at the Camp Foster Community Center on Okinawa, Japan, April 25, 2022. A total of 24 U.S. service members from 14 countries swore the Oath of Allegiance and received their Certificates of Naturalization, becoming U.S. citizens. Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen after he or she fulfills the requirements to become a citizen established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
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Command Master Chief Dennis Hunt, assigned to Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo (CFAS), poses with Japanese and American students during the MOFA/DODEA Youth Exchange Program 2022 at CFASs E.J. King Middle High School Oct. 16, 2022. During the two-day educational and cultural exchange event, American students from E.J. King Middle High School and Japanese students from Sasebo schools forged new friendships by tackling group projects together, strengthening the relationship between the base and local community.
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Erin Grazak, chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Pacific East District, poses with Japanese and American students during the MOFA/DODEA Youth Exchange Program 2022 at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebos E.J. King Middle High School Oct. 16, 2022. During the two-day educational and cultural exchange event, American students from E.J. King Middle High School and Japanese students from Sasebo schools forged new friendships by tackling group projects together, strengthening the relationship between the base and local community.
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Japanese and American students present their final project during the MOFA/DODEA Youth Exchange Program 2022 at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebos E.J. King Middle High School Oct. 16, 2022. During the two-day educational and cultural exchange event, American students from E.J. King Middle High School and Japanese students from Sasebo schools forged new friendships by tackling group projects together, strengthening the relationship between the base and local community.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During a visit to Howard A. Doolin Middle School, Miami, Fla., Center Director Jim Kennedy (shaking hands, center) and other NASA and KSC representatives are greeted by students on stage. With Kennedy on stage are (left to right), Jim Gerard, Aerospace Education Services Program (AESP) representative; Steve Lewis, assistant to Kennedy; Amber Marek, with KSC External Relations; David Wolf, astronaut; Kennedy; Les Gold, AESP representative; Burdette Brown; and Patricia Leonard and Clarence Bostic, Education Programs and University Research Division. Doolin Middle School is one of 100 to take part in the NASA Explorer Schools program. Kennedy is talking with students, the next generation of explorers, about our destiny as explorers, NASAs stepping stone approach to exploring Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond, how space impacts our lives, and how people and machines rely on each other in space.
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U.S. Army Soldiers with Able Company, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, New Jersey Army National Guard, teach Cub Scouts how to properly fold the American Flag in a military funeral ceremony at Conlon Hall, Bergen Field, New Jersey, Feb. 6, 2024. Teaching the flag folding ceremony to the Cub Scouts of America is believed to teach the youth of Bergenfield the history and traditions involved in rendering honors at a funeral. Army National Guard
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Ryan Smith, the Camp Lejeune Community Superintendent, gives a speech at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 10, 2023. Jonathan Willis, a special education teacher at Tarawa Terrace Elementary School on MCB Camp Lejeune, was selected as the Mid-Atlantic District Teacher of the year out of a district that spans from New York to Puerto Rico.
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North Slope Borough assembly meeting, Mayor Charlotte Brower giving an award to a civilian, Barrow, North Slope, Arctic Alaska, USA,
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220805-N-LY580-1002 ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (Aug. 5, 2022) Benjamin Russell High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Cadets Courtney Burgess (left) and Lylaishia Brown present colors at the Alexander City Schools District convocation.
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North Slope Borough Assembly Meeting With Mayor Charlotte Brower Giving An Award To A Civilian, Barrow, North Slope, Arctic Alaska, USA
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230211-N-ML137-1020 LIHUE, Hawai`i (Feb. 11, 2023) Cmdr. Kacee Jossis, executive officer of Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands, presents a junior division award from the Office of Naval Research to Sadie Stiglmeier, from Island School, during the Kaua`i Regional Science and Engineering Fair at the Kaua`i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue, Hawai`i. PMRF is the worlds largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air and space operations simultaneously.
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Office of the Administrator (Stephen L. Johnson) - Presidents Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Lunch , Environmental Protection Agency
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U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Rosa Bravo, right, a food service specialist with Combat Logistics Regiment 37, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, originally from Mexico, shakes hands with Susan Dunathan, left, a U.S. consulate with U.S. Consulate General Naha during a naturalization ceremony hosted at the Camp Foster Community Center on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, July 18, 2022. A total of 33 U.S. service members and Status of Forces Agreement personnel from 17 countries swore the Oath of Allegiance and received their naturalization certificates to become U.S. citizens. Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen after he or she fulfills the requirements to become a citizen established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
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Representatives with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Defense Education Activity, and the U.S. Marine Corps pose for a group photo with student participants during the 2022 Youth Exchange Program at Camp Lester Middle School on Camp Lester, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 2, 2022. The program was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Department of Defense Education Activity which allowed participants from both Japan and the U.S. to practice healthy communication skills and participate in activities to learn more about each others cultures.
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Delegations representing the Republic of the Marshall Islands, left, and the United States, right, commemorate the closing signing of the first round of negotiations for the Compact of Free Association with a photo at the Kwajalein High School Davye Multi-Purpose Room on U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll, Thursday, June 16, 2022.
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220601-N-IE405-1052 NAPLES, Italy (June 1, 2022) Students from Naples Middle High School, from left, Chloe MacNicholl, Corbin Gustafson, and Isabella Barnard, pose for a photo after receiving the Naples Area Chief Petty Officer Scholarship checks at U.S. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Naples' Support Site in Gricignano di Aversa, Italy, June 1, 2022. NSA Naples is an operational ashore base that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed, when they are needed to ensure security and stability in the European, African, and Central Command areas of responsibility.
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A student is awarded with a certificate of achievement from Col. Richard Rusnok, the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni commanding officer, at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 20, 2022. The art show is composed of various projects from students of MCAS Iwakuni schools and was held to recognize their hard work and talent.
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Riley Fitzwater, a scout in Troop 713, delivered a wooden receptacle for collection of worn flags to Christopher Ruff, the 82nd War Memorial Museum curator, where it was placed near the entrance of the museum, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Fitzwater said that the flag receptacle project is part of his goal to achieve Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the scouting program.
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The Fort Drum DoD STARBASE Academy staff waves goodbye to the busload of students leaving the schoolhouse Sept. 16 at the end of a five-day, 25-hour STEM education program. (Photo by Mike Strasser, Fort Drum Garrison Public Affairs)
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The Purple Star Award is presented to Kathryn Lenertz, Dakota elementary school principal, at the Purple Star Award ceremony at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, Jan. 9, 2024. a military-connected child can expect to move six to nine times from kindergarten through their high school graduation, with approximately 200,000 students transitioning to a new school in any given year.
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220409-N-GB257-004 Charleston, S.C. (April 9, 2022) Palmetto Scholars Academy students are announced as the winners of thehigh school challenge portion of the 2022 Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition held in North Charleston April 9-11. The team defended their 2021 title. The event is a cyber security education and awareness challenge hosted annually by Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) South Carolina Low Country Chapter.
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19th ESC holds Korean-American Friendship Circle kickoff event at Camp Walker, Daegu, Republic of Korea Nov. 18, 2022. The 19th ESC Korean-American Friendship Circle (KAFC) is a program that pairs 5-6 Korean university students and a U.S. Family into a team. KAFC is a 6-month intercultural exchange program that allows each team to plan and experience the other's culture while building lasting friendships and memories.
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Nicholas Defina, a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship recipient, poses for a photo at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California, December 8, 2022. Defina plans to attend Yale University and will be majoring in political science before commissioning as a Marine Corps Officer. Students selected for this prestigious scholarship program must uphold strict physical fitness standards and successfully complete additional military courses while maintaining normal college coursework responsibilities.
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Students of the Youth Impact Program (YIP) sign letters of intent during draft night of the YIP at Amphitheater Middle School, Tucson, Arizona, June 9, 2022. Students were assigned to teams and met their military and student athlete coaches.