On March 3, 2018, Shigeo Iwasawa, General Manager of Production & Technology for Composite Intermediates at Zoltek US, gave a visiting lecture to 24 children from grades four and above at the St. Louis Japanese Language School in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The class, which lasted about an hour, was held with the theme of “water treatment membrane and global environmental issues.”
The St. Louis Japanese Language School is a Japanese weekend school approved by the Japanese government which mainly teaches Japanese and mathematics classes based on a curriculum set by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sorts, Science and Technology of Japan. The classes are held on Saturdays, when local schools are closed, for primarily Japanese children ranging from those going to kindergarten through the ninth grade at schools.
For children who go to local schools on weekdays, the Japanese Language School is a valuable opportunity to learn the Japanese language. To show the school our gratitude as parents, Masayuki Sudo, General Manager of Sales at Zoltek US, who is president of the school, planned the science class.
In Iwasawa’s class, the children carried out an experiment to turn colored water transparent using hollow fiber membrane and other materials provided by Toray Industries, Inc.’s CSR Operations Dept. All students appeared surprised by the experiment and also took interest in what was taught, making it a very productive class.
“It would mean more than anything to me if the children, who usually do not have an opportunity to sit in a science class at this school, take an interest in science and that would somehow impact their future,” said Iwasawa.
We will continue to contribute to the local community through such corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
