Did you have a favorite local shop you used to visit often when you were a student?
Many local shops are known only to local residents, and rarely become known online.
But then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shops unable to promote themselves online have struggled to attract customers.
After school resumed in June 2020, Washu High School assigned students to investigate the circumstances local businesses, retailers, restaurants, and facilities were facing during the pandemic, and how they were responding.
After seeing the situation in their community and considering what they could do as high school students during the pandemic, they decided during their Kojima Future Studies class to “promote the local shops we love through a web media outlet!” and began planning.
The “Fight!! With COVID-19!—What We Can Do: The Kojima Tocotoco Project” got underway.
What’s more, some of the articles written by the students for class would actually be published on Kurashiki Tocotoco!
I visited a class session of the “Kojima Tocotoco Project” as a community coordinator, and would like to share what I saw.
Please read on as if you were visiting the class yourself.
The information in this article is current as of its publication in February 2021. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is the Kojima Tocotoco Project in the “Kojima Future Studies” integrated inquiry class?
At Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Washu Senior High School, the integrated inquiry class is called “Kojima Future Studies,” with the aim of fostering the ability to live in connection with the community.
One of the program’s distinctive features is that “community coordinators,” including members of the Kurashiki City Community Revitalization Cooperator program, work between the school and the community to plan and coordinate activities.
To address local issues, the school aims to propose solutions based on “new values” that are not bound by conventional thinking. It invites people pursuing innovative initiatives unlike anything seen before to serve as instructors, and makes an effort to expose students to as wide a range of values as possible.
The “Kojima Tocotoco Project” was launched to help students develop the following skills by having Kurashiki Tocotoco teach them how to write articles and promote the appeal of Kojima:
- Writing clearly and effectively, a skill useful for essays
- Researching online and conducting research for interviews
- Identifying their strengths and presenting them compellingly in preparation for job hunting
The project also began with the hope that promoting the appeal of their hometown from a high school student’s perspective would help revitalize Kojima.
Would the plan to have high school students share information through a web media outlet succeed…?
I visited an actual class and the presentation, and will report on what I saw.
Discussing what makes Kojima special in groups and turning it into articles
Students formed groups of two to four and shared their ideas, discussing what appealing shops and places in Kojima they wanted more people to know about.
“I love that shop!”
“That shop is great too!”
After considering together which spots to introduce, each group chose one to recommend.
Then, during winter break, they visited the spots in person and gathered information about what made them appealing and what they wanted to highlight.
One boy talked enthusiastically about what made the soup at his favorite ramen shop so good, while a girl showed photos of the food at a stylish cafe. Each student passionately explained the appeal to their group members.
As they talked, they discovered that they and their friends liked the same things about a shop, or learned about appealing aspects of a place they hadn’t noticed themselves.
Next, they organized the ideas they had shared and put into words what they found appealing about the shops.
Some students were coming up with catchy phrases that would make people stop and take notice.
I was very curious to find out what kind of places they were and what they planned to introduce.
“Let’s get the teachers’ opinions too, not just rely on our own perspective!” Some students were talking with their teacher.
They discussed all kinds of ideas together, trying to convey what made each spot special.
It’s important to write about their own thoughts and what makes the shops appealing, but choosing photos is also essential to help readers picture them.
Their choice of colorful photos really shows their youthful perspective.
Once they had decided on the overall structure, all that remained was to write the articles.
Their serious expressions conveyed their deep affection for their hometown of Kojima.
Some students were drawing cute illustrations as well as taking photos.
The articles they wrote with such care gradually began to take shape.
One boy was taking a short break, gazing out the window.
Taking a break is important for coming up with ideas, too!
Watching the students reminded me of my own high school days.
Just a little more to go before the articles are finished.
They worked through trial and error to complete them.
Amazingly, one group had already finished their article in Word before class began.
I’m looking forward to reading what they came up with.
The “Kojima Tocotoco” school presentation is finally here
The articles were presented on February 3 and February 10, 2021.
It was the first time the students had shown the articles they had written themselves, and some groups were a little nervous.
Because the students go to these places regularly, they knew many details, and their presentations were packed with rare information that you would not normally hear about. I learned a lot, too.
It was striking to see everyone listening intently to this firsthand information, which you cannot find just by searching the internet.
It seems the presentations gave everyone a chance to rediscover the appeal of Kojima. Not only the students presenting, but also those listening learned about shops’ recommended products they had not known about before, as well as places with beautiful scenery.
The articles that will actually be published on Kurashiki Tocotoco will be selected from the group that was most popular in a class vote.
Every group wrote wonderful articles, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them.
From the Writer
The “Kojima Tocotoco Project” was an initiative we worked on for about six months.
It was a chance to rediscover the appeal of the shops we visit regularly and grow to love Kojima even more.
It was also the first time the high school students had created work for an external audience to be published on the internet.
The articles, crafted with reader-friendly writing, catchy copy, and design, showed just how much love the students have for Kojima. They had thought hard about how to convey its appeal.
Some of the articles created by students at Washu High School were actually published on Kurashiki Tocotoco.
Please take a look at the articles written by the high school students.
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