One of the great advantages of our campus being surrounded by nature, is that staff and students can observe the change in seasons. We are very lucky to have beautiful cherry blossom trees on and around our campus to fully celebrate and appreciate this integral aspect of Japanese culture. There are over one hundred cherry blossom varieties in Japan and the tree on our campus is always in full bloom in late February, well ahead of the official Sakura Season which usually starts about a month later.

As we are often blessed with blue skies during Yokohama's winter months, teachers seize this opportunity to take their classes outdoors and blend nature and movement into student learning. Recently, Miss de-Bourne, our Grade 1 teacher at Saint Maur International School, took up the suggestion of one of her students to take a class photo by the beautiful sakura tree on the playground, which she had spotted during outdoor break time. It's wonderful seeing these kinds of enthusiasm and student-led activities from a young age!

Feeling inspired, Miss de-Bourne also hosted her Observational Drawing and Still Life Club outdoors in the Futaba School Garden and at the small park by one of the entrances to Saint Maur. The Elementary School students could study the sakura petals and blossoms close-up and drew pencil sketches while making observations.

In addition to incorporating the Japanese tradition of '花見', the traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, seeing the early cherry blossom trees blooming has a much deeper meaning to the Saint Maur International School community. The sakura tree on our playground is dedicated to Sister Carmel, who shaped education at Saint Maur International School between 1947 and 2011 as a teacher, principal, head of school, and chair of the board. Seeing the tree in full bloom reminds us of her hard work and dedication to the school.