記事詳細
「子どもの未来づくりフォーラム」 ～夢とともに未来づくり～
2013年8月3日、石巻市教育委員会主催「子どもの未来づくりフォーラム」が同市桃生公民館で行われた。テーマは「夢を語ろう」。市内各地区から代表の小中学生34人が参加し、耕人塾生（※注）６人がファシリテーターを務めた。未来の石巻を描きながらどんな夢を実現したいと考えているのかについて語り合った。
フォーラムは元フロリダディズニーワールドジャパン取締役の上田比呂志さんによる基調講演「夢をかなえるためにミッキーが教えてくれたドリームストーリー」で始まった。「叶えられない夢はない」という上田さんのメッセージに一同が励まされた。
続いての話し合いでは、主に三つの意見が出た。一つ目は「住みやすい石巻にしたい！」ということ。緑があふれ、海が美しく、震災前のように活気があり、お年寄りや小さい子どもたちが安心して暮らせる石巻。被災した学校の校舎が一日も早く完成し、部活動ができる場所や広いプール、仙石線や石巻線が完全に復旧し、ショッピングセンターなどの施設が整い、東京スカイツリーのようなシンボルがあって、毎日楽しく生活できる石巻。震災前の明るいまちを想像しながら、中学生のグループがたくさんの意見を出した。
二つ目は、「世界一のまち・石巻にしたい！」ということ。「世界一のまち」とは、挨拶のある礼儀正しいまち、ごみのない美しいまち、文化をきちんとアピールする町などという意味だ。想像力豊かで、発想が柔軟な小学生らしい意見が多数出た。
三つ目は、「海外や他県の人に石巻の文化や歴史を知ってほしい！」ということ。いろいろな人と交流のできる町になって、震災で一度は断念してしまいそうになった海産物や観光がどのように復興してきたかなどを自分たちが説明できるようになりたいという意見が出た。
山下中学校3年生の日野恵太さんは、「夢を叶えられるまちにしたい。サッカー選手になるのが夢。石巻にサッカー場やプロのサッカーチームができてほしい」と話していた。
取材・文・写真：川井 麻悠子（耕人塾生・石巻西高校３年生）、長谷川 胡桃（耕人塾生・石巻商業高校３年生）
2013/09/11
Ishinomaki aiming to be world’s greatest town
“Building the Future for children” Forum ｜Building the future alongside our dreams
Maiko Kawai, 3rd Grade, Ishiomaki Nishi High School
Kurumi Hasegawa, 3rd Grade, Ishinomaki Commercial High School
On August 3, 2013, the Forum ”Building the Future for children,” an event organized by the Ishinomaki City Education Committee, was held in the Monou Public Hall. The theme was “Let’s Talk about Dreams,” and 34 elementary and junior high school student representatives from all over the city took part, with six members of Koujin Juku (see note) acting as facilitators. The participants envisioned the future Ishinomaki while discussing the dreams they would like to make reality.
Note: Koujin Juku was established with the goal of cultural and educational development, and for the purpose of sending more and more Ishinomaki residents to contribute to the region and society by nurturing “human skills.” The head of Koujin Juku is Professor Tamio Kimura of Ishinomaki Senshu University.
The forum began with a keynote speech entitled “The Dream Story: How Mickey Mouse taught me to make dreams come true” by Hiroshi Ueda, former director of Florida Disneyworld Japan. The entire audience was encouraged by Mr. Ueda’s message that “There are no impossible dreams.”
During the subsequent discussion session, three main opinions were expressed. The first was, “We want to make Ishinomaki an easy place to live”. An Ishinomaki with flourishing green spaces and a beautiful ocean, restored to the lively place it was before the earthquake, safe for old people and young children to live in. Ideas for making Ishinomaki an enjoyable place to live each day included completing the reconstruction of the school buildings damaged in the disaster as fast as possible, providing a place for school club activities and a large swimming pool, fully restoring the Senseki and Ishinomaki railway lines, developing facilities such as a shopping centre, and building a landmark similar to the Tokyo Skytree. Remembering their bright, bustling town before the earthquake, the group of junior high school students put forward a host of ideas.
The second opinion was “We want to make Ishinomaki the world’s greatest town”. Specifically, this meant a town where people are polite and say hello to one another, a clean, beautiful town with no litter, and a town with a proper appeal for its culture. Typically of elementary school students, their abundant ideas were brimming with imagination and creative thinking.
The third opinion was, “We want people from overseas and other prefectures to know about the culture and history of Ishinomaki.” They wanted Ishinomaki to be a town which can engage with many different people, and wanted to be able to explain how the fishing and tourism industries, which temporarily faced the possibility of being abandoned after the disaster struck, have now recovered.
Keita Hino, 3rd Grade student at Yamashita Junior High School, said, “I want to make this a town where dreams can become reality. It’s my dream to be a soccer player, so I’d like the town to have a soccer pitch and a professional soccer team.”
(Translation: Fiona Michishige, Jennifer Hikari Dixon)