The School Art Contest
The Sakura Medal Art Contest is a friendly contest where people draw pictures and then everybody votes for their favorites. Elizabeth, our school librarian, gives you about two or three weeks to finish your drawing and then she hangs it on the wall at the library. Willow, Ginkgo, Oak and Maple students are all invited to do Sakura Medal drawings.
Usually, there are three or four winners and they get their drawings printed on the new Sakura Medal books!
The only rules for the drawing are to make it by yourself and it has to be an original drawing. When the Sakura Medal is done, everybody gets a bookmark of their drawing on it and their original drawing.
–Zoe, Upper Elementary Willow
The Book Competition
The Sakura Medal program brings together students from international schools across Japan each year to vote for their favorite books.Each year, librarians from various international schools meet and select 15-20 books in each of the Sakura Medal categories (Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Chapter Books, Middle School, High School, Japanese Picture Books, Japanese Chapter Books, Japanese Middle School, and Japanese High School).
Books are chosen that are no more than five years old, from a variety of genres, and encompass a wide range of reading abilities.Students who read five books in any category will be eligible to vote for their favorite. Votes will then be tallied across all participating schools and the winning author in each category will receive a Sakura Medal along with an original artwork done by a student.
Some schools also participate in the Book Bowl, a friendly competition based on the English Chapter books. Schools from all over Japan send a team of ten students to the Book Bowl at one of the international schools for a day of reading celebration and fun!
At MST, we also vote to choose the Sakura Medal logo to put on the new books each year. Students who want to participate draw a picture that is displayed in the library and then all students may vote for their three favorites. Even if their picture is not chosen, students enjoy displaying their creative efforts.
–Elizabeth Ogiyama, Librarian