Program History

In the mid-1980's, Mr. Kōsuke Maki invited Grace Fellowship Church to send an English speaking Christian to Japan to teach at the Wakakusa English School for one year. In response, GFC sent an individual who was to be the first of many English teachers in what is now the Wakakusa English Program. As the English School grew and increased the number of classes, more teachers were needed. Currently there are four English teachers who work at the Wakakusa English School full-time.

As the developing team of Wakakusa English teachers expanded, the community began to take notice. The municipal government approached Mr. Maki and requested that he supply English ALT’s (Assistant Language Teachers) to teach in a local junior high school. Maki welcomed this opportunity. By the year 2000, the Wakakusa English Program was providing full-time English teachers for every public junior high school in Funehiki (an additional four people).

In 2005, the town of Funehiki merged with several other towns to create the city of Tamura. The newly formed city also expressed interest in drawing teachers from Maki in the rest of its schools. Currently there is a full-time Wakakusa-employed English ALT in every public junior high school in Tamura (6 schools and 8 teachers in total), something that very few other cities in Japan can claim. Wakakusa-employed ALT’s also teach in most (if not all) of Tamura’s elementary schools on a limited basis. And with recent governmental efforts to step up English development in elementary schools, it is likely that more and more teachers will be needed in the coming years.