TUPELO — Tupelo High School and the University of Mississippi will provide Japanese language classes in the fall.
“I think it is a great opportunity for the students of Tupelo High School. It is definitely very unique,” school principal Jason Harris told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Students can earn college credit from the course, which will be taught on the Tupelo campus by a graduate student from Japan. The teacher will be secured through a partnership with the Alliance for Language Learning and Educational Exchange and will also take master’s level classes from the University of Mississippi.
Tupelo will offer two courses in Japanese 1 next school year and one course each in Japanese 1 and 2 in 2016-17. It will pay $10,900 each year for two years.
“It will be wonderful to have this partnership with Ole Miss,” said Tupelo Superintendent Gearl Loden. “The idea a student will take Japanese 1 and 2 and earn college credit is outstanding.”
Harris said some of the interest in the culture has come from Japanese families moving into the area.
Harris said the request for a Japanese class was driven by student request, not Toyota, which builds cars in northeast Mississippi. But given the automaker’s presence in the region, it will be even more beneficial for students to be able to speak the language.
He said the course will be available to about 15 to 20 students in each section. It will mostly be for juniors and seniors, but some sophomores also may enroll.
Tupelo High School currently offers French, Spanish, Latin and German.
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