Last month faculty and staff from Everett Community College, including Kelsey Sanderson from the Center of Excellence, hosted faculty and administrators from J.F. Oberlin (JFOU) University’s Tama campus in Japan. With four cohorts of Japanese students having already studied at EvCC, leaders from JFOU visited to see what and where students are learning, how EvCC supports them and how our region’s education system has deep connections to the local aerospace industry benefit students.
More than 20 Japanese young people currently attend EvCC’s aerospace-focused intensive program, with students studying a mix of aviation and culture totaling 100 hours. Students will study at EvCC through December and once back in Japan continue their studies.
After an earlier Boeing factory tour, JFOU leaders visited EvCC’s aviation department at Paine Field, visiting classrooms and the college’s extensive hangar. Attendees observed a drone demonstration and got their hands on lab tools and equipment to better understand the student experience. Center of Excellence Executive Assistant Kelsey Sanderson spoke with the assembled group, sharing insight into the role of the COE, including how the organization helps colleges and students across the state connect with the aerospace industry.
Later, attendees toured Paine’s new airport as well as EvCC’s main campus.
The visit was facilitated by the Obirin Gakuen Foundation of America, who describe their purpose as furthering the “cultural and educational understanding among the peoples of the Pacific Rim, especially in North America and Japan’s J.F. Oberlin University, and to foster in students and others, a mutual appreciation of one another’s cultures, especially varying global perspectives on the arts, social issues, the environment, and lifestyles. OGFA enables students and others from the Pacific Rim to develop the skills that will empower them to play a positive role in today’s increasingly complex and international world.” Learn more at https://www.obirin-gakuen.org