URI Japanese program students share Japanese wisdom, camaraderie during Davisville Middle School visit

KINGSTON, R.I. – Feb. 26, 2026 – Inside Sandra Makielski’s classroom at Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, students from the University of Rhode Island immersed themselves as a “Sensei” to the approximately 90 middle school students for the day.

Helping the Davisville students write their names in Japanese, perfecting the Japanese dialect, and asking the children trivia questions about Japan were among several activities the nine URI Japanese program students led on Jan. 28 in sharing wisdom about the Asian country. Their annual “Sensei for a Day” visit to Davisville—overseen by URI Associate Teaching Professor of Japanese Nahoko Collis and assisted by Adjunct Faculty of Japanese Fumi Cook—continues the tradition that began four years ago of URI’s program, which resides in the University’s Global Language and Area Studies, spreading educational awareness about Japan in the state.

URI students teaching Davisville Middle School students how to write their names in Japanese was among multiple activities held on Jan. 28 during the “Sensei for a Day” event.

To date, Classical High School in Providence is the only public K-12 school in Rhode Island that offers a dedicated Japanese program for students. Collis says seeing her students becoming teachers themselves for one day at Davisville is gratifying in that Japanese culture is being shared with the community beyond the URI campus.

“Without this opportunity, K-12 students would not have that exposure to Japanese language and culture in an immersive way. I truly appreciate our lasting collaboration with Ms. Makielski and Davisville Middle School to make this visit possible,” Collis said. “I’m very proud of our students delivering these opportunities to the younger generations in Rhode Island.”

Collis also said the visit allowed her to see another side of her students as they took on the role as mentors during their day-long visit to the local middle school. That, in turn, gave the URI students an opportunity to learn, as well.

At left, URI students Ashly Martinez Rodriguez and Joel Corona hold a Q&A session with Davisville Middle School students on Japanese-related topics.

Students becoming teachers

Elisa Beaubrun, a junior at URI from Lincoln majoring in chemistry, said she wanted to participate in the Davisville visit because her middle school lacked courses in Japanese, plus she wanted to see if middle school students would be interested in learning Japanese. During her visit, Beaubrun helped Makielski’s students write their names in Japanese and quizzed them on the English meanings of multiple katakana words she said to them.

Beaubrun admitted that she was at first nervous being a teacher to the Davisville students as she previously never worked with children. But as the interactions increased throughout the day, so did Beaubrun’s confidence.

“After getting into the activity, seeing the student interested in learning made me feel more comfortable,” she said. “If this event inspires someone to try Japanese, even if they are not confident, I believe that will matter most in the end.”

For Ryan Carney, a URI junior from Mystic, Connecticut, the visit to Davisville reinforced the possibility of being a mentor or tutor in the future. Carney—double-majoring in English and Japanese—spent part of his day holding a Q&A session with the Davisville students about Japanese culture and life as a URI student.

Carney said working with the Davisville students was unique in that he did not have that kind of experience as a middle school student himself.

“It was a great experience for me in that I hope I connected with a few of those kids and helped them find what they want to do in the future,” said Carney, who plans to mentor Japanese students in English through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program after URI.

Embracing Japanese culture

The URI students’ visit to Davisville wasn’t all about sharing Japanese culture with the middle schoolers. It was also about gaining a sense of belonging by being immersed in the culture, as well as learning from one another.

Hana Matsuoka, a URI junior exchange student from Japan majoring in ecology, participated in the visit, where she taught calligraphy to the Davisville students, because she wanted to connect and communicate with residents in her new home 6,730 miles away from Japan. At Davisville, Matsuoka learned that helping students enjoy and celebrate her culture was most important.

“Through the experience, I could learn American culture from the students, too,” Matsuoka said. “It allowed me to tell them about other Japanese cultures, and build strong connections with one another.”

It was the same for Ashly Martinez Rodriguez, a URI International Engineering Program student from Providence—originally from the Dominican Republic—who is double-majoring in computer engineering and Japanese. On Jan. 28, Martinez Rodriguez in part played the role of teacher and worked with students one on one on how to speak Japanese during her visit.

But during lunch, URI students including Martinez Rodriguez and volunteers conversed in fluent Japanese and connected with one another. That experience in feeling included left Martinez Rodriguez emotional afterward, she said.

“I cried after I got home because they made me feel like I belonged,” she said. “They made us feel welcomed and I gained a lot of confidence in my Japanese speaking skills. I felt grateful for the opportunity because I feel like I actually made an impact and they also had an impact on me that I will always take with me.”

Martinez Rodriguez hopes to see more K-12 schools across Rhode Island implement Japanese programming in their curricula, with URI’s annual visit to Davisville being a blueprint for it.