90 WANTED: COLLEGE GRADS FOR JAPANESE ADVENTURE

JET Program Offers Alums a Chance to Teach and to Learn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 27, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

(MURFREESBORO) – Emily Winckler, program coordinator of the Culture and Education Division of the Consulate General of Japan in New Orleans, will discuss the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, in Keathley University Center.
“The JET program provides wonderful opportunities for young college graduates to teach English and learn culture in Japan regardless of their major or minor field of study,” Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, director of MTSU’s Japan-U.S. Program, says.
Kawahito and Martha Turner, director of the Career and Employment Center, were instrumental in arranging Winckler’s visit.
Winckler says the most popular job offered by JET is the Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) position, in which an ALT teaches an elementary school, middle school or high school class with a Japanese educator.
“You don’t need Japanese (language) skills, but some attributes that would be helpful include ability to adjust to new situations, adaptability, interest in Japan, flexibility, open-mindedness and an appreciation of teamwork,” Winckler says.
JET participants leave for Japan in late July or early August of each year. Each participant signs a one-year contract with a three-year option. The program covers the participant’s round-trip plane ticket and pays him or her an annual salary of 3,600,000 yen, equivalent to about $31,000.
Winckler says she will provide materials and answer questions at an information table in the KUC from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Videos also will be shown continually. From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., she will deliver a PowerPoint presentation to interested persons in Room 316 of the KUC.
For more information, contact the Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU at 615-898-2229 or at kawahito@mtsu.edu.

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