First conceptualized following several meetings between former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and former U.S. President Barack Obama, the J-LEAP program has grown to represent a new era of Japanese-American diplomacy.

The Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (also known as J-LEAP) is a two-year Japanese language program that selects a group of native Japanese-speaking language assistant teachers to be sent to K-12 schools across the United States, with the goal of strengthening their Japanese language programs.

The J-LEAP program is made possible through a partnership between the Laurasian Institution and The Japan Foundation, both of which have an extensive history of serving as links between the two nations, both diplomatically and culturally. As interesting as that already sounds, and probably unbeknownst to you, Shaler Area High School has been selected as one of those schools.

Beginning with the very first group of assistant teachers in 2011, the J-LEAP program has been on an upward trajectory of success. Shaler Area High School Japanese teacher Mr. Steve Balsomico is quoted on the Laurasian Institution’s website as saying, “J-LEAP has been the single most beneficial thing for my Japanese program. The number of students taking Japanese has increased dramatically, as has our retention rate. Every single student has commented on how wonderful our Assistant Teacher has been.”

In his interview with The Oracle, Mr. Balsomico also mentioned that he has been working in collaboration with the Laurasian Institution for almost as long as he has been working at Shaler.

He went on to mention the very selective nature of the program, saying, “There’s only six assistants that came this year out of who knows how many schools applied for this. So Shaler is very lucky to get in.”

The assistant teacher that is currently working with Mr. Balsomico is the Osaka-born Haruka Nishida.

In terms of having an assistant teacher (Balsomico has had assistant teachers through J-LEAP in the past), he seems to be very glad to have the opportunity to share his classroom with her.

“It’s more fun, and the opportunities are just better. I’m not Japanese,” he said. “So having a native speaker is better for students in every way, both culturally and linguistically.”

Shaler’s involvement in the J-LEAP program involved a lengthy application and interview process, which took nearly a full year to complete. After being selected for the program, Mr. Balsomico met up with other program members and his current assistant teacher in Seattle for training.

After graduating from university and working a short-lived job in construction-material manufacturing, Nishida decided to revisit a shelved dream from her childhood: becoming a teacher.

“I was working in a company before I became a Japanese language teacher, but after I worked there for two years, I felt like I wanted to start new things. I like to communicate with foreigners, I like to understand different cultures, and when I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher, so I thought: I want to be a Japanese language teacher,” she said.

Seeking a teaching certification, Nishida enrolled in a Japanese language training course, where she initially learned about the J-LEAP program from one of her teachers.

“I wanted to have an opportunity to work abroad, and working in America [otherwise, without the support of an educational program like J-LEAP] is difficult because America doesn’t have working holidays. I thought it would be a good opportunity to work in America, so I applied for J-LEAP.”

Nishida-sensei teaches at the middle school two days a week and at the high school three days a week, contributing to the Japanese programs across both schools.

“The middle school students, they still don’t know if they want to learn Japanese…But high school students can focus on learning Japanese because they know why they want to learn Japanese, especially the level 4 and AP students,” she said. 

She also noted the difference between teaching American students versus teaching Japanese students.

“I think that Japanese students are more shy. They don’t want to raise their hand, they don’t want to answer in the classroom, so the atmosphere is more quiet. But the American students, they want to answer questions, and they want to raise their hands, and it will be scored by points. Yeah, so that culture is different.”

Among the other 5 assistant teachers that were chosen from the program, Nishida was assigned to the easternmost school: here at Shaler Area. Other schools from this J-LEAP cohort include the Aina Haina Elementary School in Honolulu, Hawaii; the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California; Harding High School in St. Paul, Minnesota; Lockport Township High School in Lockport, Illinois; and Chalmette High School in Chalmette, Louisiana.

Obviously, Shaler is no Hawaii or coastal California, but, at least by her own account, Nishida-sensei has managed to find fulfillment here in Pittsburgh.

Transitioning from her native Osaka, the third largest city in Japan, with a population of approximately 2.8 million and an incredibly designed public transportation system, to Pittsburgh has been night and day.

“Both of the cities have their special things, but I think I like Pittsburgh more. I prefer Pittsburgh to Osaka, because I don’t have to care about fashion. I don’t have to wear make-up every day.”

Since Nishida-sensei had already visited the United States two other times prior to her assistant teacher position in the J-LEAP program, she avoided some of the more regular ‘culture shocks’, yet the feeling of uncertainty and loneliness that follows moving into a new country still remained.

Coming to Pittsburgh with absolutely no prior knowledge about the city–or even the state of Pennsylvania–is certainly no easy feat.

Initially living with a host family for the first few months of her stay in Pittsburgh, Nishida was able to slowly ease into her new life here in Pittsburgh. Besides having the opportunity to immerse herself into our passionate sports culture, seeing two Pirates games and a Steelers game, she also got to experience things that were not only unique to Pittsburgh but also unique to the American experience, as well.

From celebrating her very first Thanksgiving with her host family to getting a Social Security number, driver’s license, and a new car, Nishida expressed deep gratitude for all of the help in doing so from both her host family and Balsomico-sensei, especially since her experience is already challenging as is.

“I can’t say everything is going smoothly so far because it’s pretty difficult living in America as a foreigner in this political situation. It was hard getting a Social Security number, buying a new car, and getting a driver’s license, especially since I don’t speak English fluently, but my host family and Mr. Balsomico supported me a lot. They treat me as part of their family, so I feel like I have support,” she says.

Even though they were only a host family meant to help her adjust to life in America, Nishida detailed the close relationship between her and her host family, and how, even though they only lived together for about five months, she feels deeply connected to them.

“They are so nice. I feel I’m loved by them. They care about me, and they always worry about me, and they treat me as part of their family, and we went on trips together. We eat dinner every day. and we talk every night. I feel like I have family in America,” she said. 

Though, despite feeling welcomed, the feeling of uncertainty and nervousness remained, especially since she eventually had to move out of her host family’s home to live in her own apartment.

Just moving in this past December, Nishida says that after moving into her apartment in Millvale, there was a lot of nervousness and discomfort since she didn’t know how to live on her own and how to truly go about embarking on her new life here in America.

However, after the initial nerves and discomfort subsided, and now that she is fully settled into her apartment, she feels that her life in Pittsburgh has finally ‘fully started’. Despite coming to Pittsburgh with absolutely no prior knowledge of the city, all of the nerves that come with moving to a foreign country have seemingly culminated into a mixture of both nervousness and fulfillment.

At this time, being able to respect and also embrace the differences that exist between people of different backgrounds is immeasurably important. Nishida-sensei shared a handwritten note detailing some of her overarching experiences and beliefs following her selection for the J-LEAP program.

She wrote, “I believe that learning language is not just about gaining the ability to speak, but it is a process that helps students develop an interest in other cultures and understand the thoughts and values of people from other countries…I know it’s not easy and you need to be patient; it takes time, but believe me: they can take you to wonderful places you never expected. Just like me! I came to America and met so many lovely students. I am very happy that I had the opportunity to teach Japanese to American children.”