OREANDA-NEWS. Students and teachers from Japan and the United States will come together in early August for the inaugural TOMODACHI Toshiba Science & Technology Leadership Academy in Tokyo, Japan. The week-long program is designed to foster closer ties between American and Japanese participants, to nurture a strong sense of STEM literacy, and to inspire the use of science and technology to address some of the world's most complex issues in the future.

Toshiba created the academy in partnership with the TOMODACHI Initiative, a public-private partnership between the U.S.-Japan Council and the U.S. Embassy in Japan, that invests in the next generation of Japanese and American leaders through educational and cultural exchanges, as well as science, engineering, and leadership programs.

The TOMODACHI Toshiba Science & Technology Leadership Academy is a week-long, cross-cultural exchange program where students and teachers from Japan and the United States work in teams to develop proposed solutions to global issues using learning experiences that are central to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). During their time in Japan, participants from both countries will work together to develop a disaster-resilient, smart community of the future with counsel from Toshiba engineers.

The academy, which is sponsored by Toshiba and administered by the NSTA under the U.S.-Japan Council, links the TOMODACHI Initiative's roots in disaster recovery as well as strengthening U.S.-Japan relations, and Toshiba's founding commitment to technological innovation, and the company's passion for science and technology education.

In the United States, past participants of the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program in grades 8-11, and high school teachers who are also NSTA members were eligible to apply. Their Japanese counterparts were selected from high schools who promote strong achievements in science and mathematics education and international student exchanges.