Building community one JET at a time.

On January 15, 2021, USJETAA selected 19 Microgrant recipients for the 2020-2021 Microgrant Initiative program for American JETs. The Microgrant Initiative program funded by the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, provides small grants to U.S. assistant language teachers and coordinators of international relations working in Japan on the JET Programme to introduce American culture and English language to students and the local community. This year there were projects from current JETs in many different prefectures, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Projects were selected based on the uniqueness of the idea, the area of focus, the impact of the project, the budget, and the feasibility of the project.

The 2020 grant recipients are:

• Anne Echols, Let’s Enjoy Learning English!, Hyogo, $219
• Ashley Davis, Traversing the Great Lakes with English, Shiga, $500
• Ayumi Shiraishi, A Great Oppor-tuna-ty – Let’s Taco in English!, Iwate, $500
• Carly Rowley, Paint Pals: A Colorful Connection of International Friendships, Chiba, $1,000
• Cesar Pineda, Brunch at Komazawa, Kanagawa, $400
• Deeani Gonzalez, American Cultural Festival, Miyazaki, $600
• Hilary Kuntz, An English Library: Extensive Reading Program Expansion, Hokkaido, $500
• Jamal Alhabeil, Happy Teeth: Educating Japanese and American youth about Oral Health, Shiga, $946
• James Borchert, America the Melting Pot, Tokushima, $1,000
• Josephine Dennis, English Book Fair and Tadoku Sessions at Yatsushiro City Public Library, Kumamoto, $500
• Marcia Yang, Building a Multicultural and Multilingual Library, Shiga, $520
• Melissa Phineus, African and African Diaspora Heritage Celebration, Kagoshima, $900
• Michael Frazier, Hokuriku Black History Month, Ishikawa, $1,000
• Monica Josephine Bustamante Aguilar-Scion, Providing Haebaru High School and Nanbu Commercial High School students the opportunity to supplement their English learning through American English Picture Books, Okinawa, $500
• Prima Shariff, Global Business, Economics, Society, Culture, and Technology – An English Passport Reference Library to the World, Oita, $650
• Rachel Villanueva, Star Village: After-School Enrichment Program, Tokyo, $700
• Ryan Molloy, Learning American Culture through Jazz Music, Aomori, $300
• Sara Mallett, Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader: Kirishima Book Fair, Kagoshima, $350
• Sarah Baughn, Connecting Noto to Georgia: Penpal Program, Ishikawa, $200