Academic & Service Activities

The HSSC (High School Student Council) and MSSC (Middle School Student Council) are student government groups who organize student events and represent student voice. Each of these bodies is self-governing according to its own constitution/guidelines, and is supported by a Faculty moderator. Each body is constituted as follows:

The MSSC (elected annually in the Fall):    

• 2 Co-Presidents  (8th grade student)
• 12 Class Representatives (one from each homeroom)
• Secretary and Treasurer are selected from one of the Class Representatives

The HSSC (elected annually in the fall [class officers] or in January/February [executives] to serve full year terms):  

• President
• Communications Director
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Entertainment Director
• Class Officers (one per class) 

NHS (Nagoya Honor Society, formally the National Honor Society) is organization that honors high school students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. Students support the school community in a variety of activities throughout the year, and also must volunteer in the greater Nagoya community as well.

What would you say if the world was listening? Share your passions and celebrate your TED-Ed Talk with the global community.
The TED-Ed Student Talks program supports students as they discover, explore and present their big ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks.

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GIN is an extra-curricular club to help students realize they can make a difference by empowering them to work with their peers to develop solutions for global issues. A natural extension of being "Internationally Minded", GIN students aim to raise awareness of the social responsibility of "global citizens" through local, regional and global action, and hopefully, in the process, develop solutions for issues as well. 

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Cli-Mates is a club passionate about the environment. We discuss and raise awareness about environmental issues, and fundraise for charitable organizations that focus on these issues. We have connections to a research trip through the organization Operation Wallacea, which is an option for eager candidates.

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The Dolphin Wave is a student-led school publication that has articles by students on a variety of topics. Our aim is to build a platform where students at NIS can freely express their own knowledge and interests to share with the rest of the NIS community. It gives students an opportunity to develop their research, writing, designing, and photography skills while experiencing the world of journalism.  

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The Nagoya Action Heroes is a student-led initiative that is focused on creating awareness about gender, sexuality, and rights-based issues. The group  is affiliated with Blank Noise, an organization based in India. We collaborate with the school & local community to spark conversations around themes of gender, sexuality, identity, & privilege. We facilitate a dialogue to question the notion of shame and make efforts to be allies to marginalised communities that are fighting these battles alone on the ground, & introduce our local communitiy to new & challenging perspectives on gender & sexuality through an intersectional, rights-based approach. Essentially, we are committed to smashing the patriarchy and making public and private spaces safe and inclusive for all.

NIS high school students who join MUN (Model United Nations) meet once a week to study and learn how to serve as delegates for countries in a mock-UN style conference. Students debate, write resolutions, and learn the intricacies of parliamentary debate and the fine art of maneuvering behind the scenes to negotiate. NIS has traditionally participated in one conference, the THIMUN conference held in Singapore in the autumn. 

"PLAN NIS" is a high school club that represents PLAN International -- an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that focuses mainly on children's rights, girls' rights and access to education, as well as other causes. High school student members raise funds for PLAN International and other causes by volunteering to tutor elementary and middle school students. Students request 1,000 yen per hour, and 500 yen for 30 minutes. In the 2017-18 school year, PLAN NIS was able to raise approximately 360,000 yen to donate to and three organizations outside NIS (PLAN International, Water.org, Aid TAKATA) and three organizations within NIS (HSSC, JSDA, Operation Wallacea).

Kidzuna is a collaborative crafting club that runs exciting events for students at NIS and children in the local community to support the people from Tohoku. Kidzuna shares these important stories to keep them from being forgotten during their many years of hosting crafting events and supporting many communities. Visit HERE to learn more about Kidzuna and their activities.

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The high school Sports Council assists with all NIS athletic events, and helps by keeping scores at games and providing linesmen support for tournaments and games. They also help raise funds for the school’s athletic program, organize pep-rallies and help plan the Athletic Banquet, which is held at the end of the year.

The NIS Junior Red Cross (NIS JRC) is a high school organization that believes in the well-being of the NIS and global community. We constantly pursue new and creative ways to serve our community and actively participate in the promotion of and participation in blood drives, First Aid/CPR trainings, lessons in American Sign Language, and visits to local Red Cross blood centers. The Junior Red Cross strives to be a part of the global process in making the world a happier, safer, and healthier place.

The annual NIS Middle School musical aims at engaging our students in a large scale multidisciplinary project aimed at uniting our performance and visual art disciplines. Students will undergo the process of auditioning for parts using both singing and dramatic scenes followed by a process of rehearsal in preparation for performances to fellow NIS students and evening performances for parents and guests. The process involves intensive singing and drama rehearsal from well experienced teaching practitioners aimed at creating that real life sense of professional musical theatre. The culmination of this adventure for students is a deep learning experience of the demands of musical rehearsal and performance which is enlightening and often transformative for our student’s wider school experience. 

The Yearbook Contributors are a collection of high school students who support and strengthen school spirit by creating a Yearbook that captures the key events, personal bonds of friendship, and the essence of our school community. Students work under the leadership of a student editor to create a unique keepsake that is made available for purchase just before the summer vacation begins. These motivated learners demonstrate real-world skills and community involvement that exemplifies the school’s mission in action.

NIS Home Builders advocates for decent and sustainable shelter for all. NIS Home Builders represent a variety of different organizations as they have represented Habitat for Humanity and Hope International in the past. Within the school community, NIS Home Builders organize annual fundraisers, such as the brick drive to raise money to enable students to support developing communities themselves while on trips. Students spend one week in locations such as Cambodia and Thailand, where they have helped build homes, wells and schools.

In Home Language Club (HLC), HS students organize and run various educational and entertaining activities with elementary students to support and develop their Mother Tongues.

HS Robotics Team builds and program robots for the VEX Robotics Competition in Tokyo and possibly the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics tournament in Korea.

MS Robotics Team build and program robots for the FIRST Lego League robotics competition.

Roots & Shoots is a club for young leaders that was founded by Dr Jane Goodall in 1991. Our groups can now be found all over the world. Our mission is to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for people, other animals, and the environment.

NIS Service Dog Helpers work to support the Japan Service Dog Association - the only facility in Japan that breads service dogs and helps to connect dogs to people who need them - through advocacy and the promotion of service dogs. We volunteer for JSDA activities such as cleaning the facilities, helping out in their open house days, taking photos in the JSDA Festa. Every year we also invite facility members to NIS to present the service dogs to the grade 5 students.