Pacific Far East Student Activities

DoDEA Pacific Far East Academics and Athletics contribute directly to the quality of life and education provided to high school students attending DoD schools.

The goal of the Far East program is to offer student-centered activities and athletic events that contribute to a well- rounded educational experience commensurate with attending high school in the U.S. Students from DoDEA Pacific high schools meet at the conclusion of each season for area-wide competitions, conferences and symposia known as Far East events.

Annual Far East athletic tournaments determine the Far East champion for Division 1 (D-1) and Division 2 (D-2) schools in various sports. Far East scholastic activities focus primarily on academic excellence and creative collaboration among attending students and educators from across the Pacific.

Far East activities include programs uniquely designed to prepare students for college and career success in myriad disciplines such as math, engineering, science, foreign language, and the visual, performing, and culinary

Far East Athletics

Our Athletics Program are an integral part of the total learning experience. Participating schools work to promote the educational significance of "interscholastic" athletics.

To allow each student to excel in their unique gifts we have created a wide variety of athletic options throughout the school year. Our programs are designed to help each student grow physically, mentally, and socially. This is an opportunity for all our young men and women to participate and compete on an equitable basis.

The sports program and educational goals are guided by DoDEA, our parent organization. Throughout our competitive sports activities we work to promote sportsmanship and ethical behavior on the part of everyone: athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and spectators.

We encourage our students to step out and try something new!

For more information about the sports programs, please contact your specific school principal or athletic director.

Sports by Season

Fall

Cheerleading
Cross Country
Drill
Football
Golf
Volleyball
Tennis

Winter

Boys Basketball
Cheerleading
Esports
Girls Basketball
Marksmanship
Wrestling

Spring

Baseball
Boys Soccer
Girls Soccer
Softball
Track and Field

Far East Academics

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Creative Expressions

Over 100 emerging student artists, student filmmakers, and 16 teachers from all 12 DoDEA Pacific high schools come together in collaboration with a local university to create unique works of art by conducting an in depth exploration of visual arts through drawing, painting, ceramics sculpture, printmaking, digital art and photography. Drawing emphasizes the human form and still-life subjects such as landscapes. Painters learn advanced techniques in watercolor and acrylics.. Mediums such as traditional printmaking are also offered which allow students an opportunity to carve, ink, and print their own designs. Other courses include digital art and photography.

In 2013, a video communication component was added. Students are placed into film teams comprised of students from around the Pacific and then asked to create a short film under the guidance from a film industry professional.

The culminating event is a student exhibition and short film showcase.

Far East Creative Expressions History

DoDEA Pacific Far East Creative Expressions was first organized in the fall of 2010 and hosted the debut visual arts festival Jan. 2011 in Okinawa, Japan. The event was attended by 81 students and featured a myriad of visual art activities over a three day period of intense instruction and studio time. Each student selected two of the eight offered courses such as drawing, painting, ceramics, and digital art as their focus for the event. On the final day, student projects were submitted for critique and an art gallery that was assembled to display one finished project from each student. The inaugural DoDEA Pacific Far East Creative Expressions art gallery public showcase was held Jan. 13, 2011. That same year also marked the first time prize-winning student artwork from the event was featured in the DoDEA Pacific Sun, an annual publication dating back nearly four decades which showcases student 2D and 3D fine art, digital art, photography and creative writing.

Culinary Arts

The Far East Culinary competition showcases the culinary talents of students representing the DoDEA Pacific high school Culinary Arts programs. Using the Prostart^® competition rules, teams of up to five students have one hour to prepare a three-course meal using only two butane burners. Teams are judged by culinary professionals on their knife skills, teamwork, sanitation, menu presentation, and taste. The winning team qualifies for the National Prostart^® Invitational that is held in the U.S.

Drama and Performing Arts Festival

The annual Far East Dramatic and Performing Arts Festival celebrates the English and Dramatic arts through writing, performances, workshops and judge-peer critiques. The festival's primary purpose is to support the English and Language arts and give students a chance to write and perform original works of literature as well as to perform works by well-known playwrights. A professional practitioner is invited as a guest lecturer to support the event.

Feedback from judges and other coaches who are experts in their field are utilized to help students raise their level of creativity and performance and to encourage growth in their chosen crafts. Students must pass an audition to participate in the festival. Selected teams prepare a 30-minute ensemble show and all students are required to participate in a 15-minute collaborative reader's theater, as well as individual performance pieces involving performance poetry, a monologue, duo or trio. All students are given the chance to perform and to be critiqued by judges in the field of theater and performance as well as participate in theater and writing workshops.

Far East English & Drama History

In 1986 The ELA/Drama Festival begin as the Far East Speech Arts Festival. During the early days of the festival, the event included a variety of different activities such as storytelling and interpretive speech as well as dramatic performances. As the festival grew, the emphasis shifted to focus primarily on theatrical studies and was named the Far East Drama Festival. In 2011, the Festival added a writing and performance poetry component and took its present form.

FIRST Tech Challenge

It’s way more than building robots. FIRST Tech Challenge teams are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format.

Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.

The robot kit is reusable from year to year and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming. Teams design and build robots, raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach to earn specific awards. Participants are eligible to apply for $80M+ in college scholarships. Each season concludes with Far East Pacific Region Championship.

Harvard Model Congress Area

Harvard Model Congress Asia is a global conference where international high school students learn and experience government while playing the roles of officials in the United States government and several international political bodies. HMC Asia strives to educate and foster the next generation of global leaders by offering a truly interactive program, featuring one-on-one communication with Harvard students, debate on pressing global issues, and cross-cultural connections among delegates from throughout Asia and around the world.

Students from more than twenty nations converge at the conference and work together to address challenges facing governments across the world. At HMCA students discuss contemporary political issues, draft policy, report news stories, and decide court cases, all under the guidance of Harvard University students. HMC Asia is an officially recognized and wholly student-run organization at Harvard College.

Honor Music Festival

DoDEA Pacific students are selected through a highly selective audition process. This entertaining and collaborative week-long festival brings together the finest student musicians. The week is filled with rehearsals and culminates with a closing concert. The final concert is free and open to the public.

Far East Honor Music Festival History

The Music Festival had its beginnings in the 1970s when High School band directors brought together selected students from several different Pacific schools to form a combined Honor Band.

In 1980, the event was officially named the Far East Regional Honor Band Festival and included 60 students from 13 high schools located in mainland Japan, Korea, Okinawa and the Philippines. In 1987 an Honor Choir was added and the event was renamed the DODDS Pacific Regional Far East Honor Music Festival.

In 2008, the Festival was expanded to include a Jazz Band and String Orchestra. November of 2010 saw the debut of the Far East Honor Jazz Festival as a separate event, and the DoDEA Pacific Far East Honor Music Festival featuring a Concert Band, Concert Choir, and String Orchestra took its present shape.

Jazz and Modern Music Festival

The Jazz Festival includes an Honor Jazz Choir comprised of approximately 25 students and an instrumental Honor Jazz Ensemble featuring approximately 20 students. The style of the music is big band with notable musical selections spanning several eras of jazz.

Students rehearse throughout the week before the culminating public performance on the last evening of the event. Selection to this festival is highly competitive with well over 100 auditions submitted annually.

Far East Jazz Festival History

In 2008, an Honor Jazz Band was added to the Far East Honor Music Festival. Over the next three years the Jazz program grew in popularity and quality. In April of 2010, the Jazz Band gave a solo performance to a packed house at the Enlisted Club on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. It was recognized that the jazz program was growing too big to remain as a sub-group of the already full Honor Music Festival. With the addition of a 24 voice Jazz Choir, the first DoDEA Pacific Far East Honor Jazz festival was held in Guam in November of 2010.

Journalism

Held in the fall, this popular event brings together up to ten students from each of the DoDEA Pacific high schools. Presentations and workshops are given by civilian and military journalism professionals. In addition, students are placed into teams comprised of students from around the Pacific and then asked to create newspapers, news broadcasts, and yearbook spreads.

Several awards are presented in the areas of yearbook, school newspaper, photography, and broadcast journalism. FAST trips (Find A Story Time) are conducted wherein teams are dispatched throughout the community (with an adult sponsor) in search of a story. These are incorporated into their productions and a panel is conducted at the end of the week to provide feedback on the newly created products.

JSHS - Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

JSHS is designed to challenge and engage students (Grades 9-12) in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). Individual students compete for scholarships and recognition by presenting the results of their original research efforts before a panel of judges and an audience of their peers.

Opportunities for hands-on workshops, panel discussions, career exploration, research lab visits and networking are planned. Students will develop skills to help prepare for undergraduate and graduate pursuits, such as acquiring scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to identify issues, acquire new knowledge, and apply the new knowledge to real world STEM-related issues.

JSHS aims to prepare and support students to contribute as future scientists, computer scientists, researchers, mathematicians and engineers -- conducting STEM research on behalf of or directly for the Department of Defense, the Federal research laboratories, or for the greater good in advancing the nation's scientific, mathematical, research, engineering, and technological progress.

For a comprehensive list of JSHS approved academic disciplines one may conduct research in, please read the National Student Guidelines. For more information on JSHS visit www.JSHS.org.

SPARK (STEM Program Advancing Research Knowledge!)

The mission of SPARK is to ignite student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research, careers, and scholarship opportunities. SPARK will provide students with a solid understanding of the research process to complete a project for the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) Pacific Region Competition in March.

SPARK will give high school students exposure to various STEM fields through guest speakers, virtual lab tours, and activities.

Students participating in SPARK are encouraged to continue on to the DoDEA Pacific Region Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) on March in Okinawa, Japan. Students accepted to Regionals are awarded an all-expenses paid trip by DoDEA Pacific and the Army Educational Outreach Program to attend. At the Regional competition, students compete for scholarships and the opportunity to represent DoDEA Pacific at the National JSHS in April, where they can compete for more scholarships and accolades.

Sun Journal

SUN, the Journal of Self-expression, is a collection of literary works, musical compositions, photography, and visual art work. The publication presents the accomplishments of both students and staff from the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, located in Japan, Korea, Okinawa, and the Domestic Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools located in Guam.

Sun History

SUN ONE was published in April of 1975 as a showcase of visual art and creative writing for DoDDS Pacific Schools located in Japan, Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, Taiwan and Midway Island. The 171 entries printed in the first publication were selected out of 5,000 original submissions from students and staff members. Each successive year the publication was expanded until 1980 when SUN 6 included entries by over 500 individuals. Since 1980 the SUN has continued to publish approximately 500 entries each year and a total of over 16,000 creative works have been included on its pages.

Far East JROTC

Marksmanship

Marksmanship match includes Army, Navy, and Marine Corps JROTC cadets from all DoDEA Pacific JROTC programs. The Far East Marksmanship Match culminates a season of regional matches with qualifying cadets moving on to designated military service national level competitions.

Drill and Color Guard

The Drill and Color Guard meet includes cadets from all DoDEA Pacific Area JROTC programs. Awards recognize both team and individual excellence and culminates a season of regional drill meets with qualifying teams competing in a national level drill meet.

Far East Activities Calendar

2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

Keep abreast of the upcoming activities and events for all the Pacific Region Far East Student Activities and Programs!

Download the SY 2024-25 DoDEA Pacific Region Far East Activities Calendar

Updated 09 Sep 2024 PREVIOUS EDITIONS ARE OBSOLETE

Far East Policies and Guidance

Far East Activities and Programs

This guide establishes procedures to support the DoDEA Pacific Region Far East Academic Programs (FEAP) Co-Curricular, the Interscholastic Athletic Program (IAP) Extracurricular, and the JROTC Co-Curricular Activities.

This procedural guide does not create policy but only clarifies existing laws or already established policy and describes the steps to accomplish specific actions in accordance with the references. This procedural guide does establish Pacific Region processes and procedures that reflect Pacific Region operational requirements. This guide is current until superseded. Updates will be published as required.

This guide supersedes the 2014 DoDEA Pacific Area Interscholastic Athletic Program Manual and the 2014 Far East Academic Program Manual which are obsolete upon publication of this guide.