Year 3 students craft heartfelt letters to Posukuma bear in Japan

Year 3 Japanese students from St Andrews International School Bangkok wrote letters to the "Posukuma" Bear, a character from the Japan Post, expressing their knowledge on the global environment. Through this project, the Japanese Post Yomiuri collaborated with our students and provided them with the opportunity to perfect their Japanese and learn about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The children conveyed their thoughts and ideas through writing and drawing in the letters, thinking deeply about what we all can do for a better future.

"Posukuma" is a character of Japan Post, it means "post bear". "Posu" is post and "Kuma" is bear in Japanese respectively.

At St Andrews International School Bangkok, our mission is to raise socially responsible global citizens who care deeply about the world and the people in it. Projects such as these, along with our school’s collaboration with UNICEF, allow our students to learn about challenges facing society and encourage them to affect real change from an early age.

In February 2023, our school discussed the global environment during a lesson on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The students learned that global warming caused by greenhouse gases contributes to abnormal weather patterns, the melting of Arctic ice, rising sea levels, and the submergence of countries. This also results in a decrease in habitat for animals like polar bears.

Thoughts for the Future

In March of this year, Yomiuri Newspaper (読売新聞) solicited letters to their "Posukuma" Bear under the theme, "What We Want to Do for the Future". Upon learning about this, Ms Kiyomi Morita, the Head of Japanese at St Andrews Primary School, asked 15 children in her Year 3 class to write letters to Posukuma, discussing what they can do to help stop global warming.

Their letters developed various thoughts and measures, such as concerns for the polar bear's plight due to the melting of Arctic ice, using hand fans to save electricity, and reducing the use of air conditioning and smartphones.

Letters to Posukuma

A month after sending the letters to Japan, St Andrews Japanese students received postcard replies from Posukuma, praising them for thinking deeply about the global environment. True to SDG practices, these postcards were made from various recycled fibre wastes.

The international school students were overjoyed at the postcards and all of them wrote further replies expressing their gratitude, wishing the recipient good health, and likewise praising Posukuma for engaging in environmental sustainability.

Reflecting on the objective and impact this project had on her students, Ms Kiyomi said, "By writing the letters, their interest and concern for SDGs expanded. They were able to understand the difficulties faced by healthcare workers. Letters are an excellent means of expressing one's thoughts and feelings to someone else. I hope to continue such initiatives in the future."

News clipping from YOMIURI NEWS PAPER