北星余市高校 - Hokusei Gakuen Yoichi High School
北星学園余市高等学校は、北海道余市郡余市町にある、キリスト教系の全日制普通科高等学校です。様々な理由で不登校になったこどもたちを全国から積極的に受け入れていて、およそ8割の生徒が北海道外出身者。余市町民が営む寮や下宿で暮らしながら、通学しています。
私たちが仕事の依頼を受けたのは2015年。当時は入学者数が減少し、北星学園余市高等学校の存続が危ぶまれていた時期でした。存続の条件は、2クラス分に相当する70名以上の入学者を確保すること。「このままでは廃校になるかもしれない……」という緊張感が伝わってきたことを思い出します。通信制高校が次々と新設される中で、なぜわざわざ北海道で寮生活をしてまで普通科高校に通うのか？
Hokusei Gakuen Yoichi High School (hereafter Hokusei Yoichi High School) is a Christian-affiliated, full-time general-education high school located in Yoichi, Yoichi District, Hokkaido. For many years, it has welcomed children from across Japan who, for a variety of reasons, have stopped attending school. About 80 percent of the students come from outside Hokkaido, attending classes while living in dormitories or boarding houses run by local residents of Yoichi.
3KG was asked to take on this work in 2015. At the time, enrollment was declining, and the continued existence of Hokusei Yoichi High School was in jeopardy. The condition for survival was clear: the school needed to enroll at least 70 new students—the equivalent of two full classes. 3KG recalls the tension behind the words, “At this rate, the school may be forced to close…”
As correspondence high schools continued to open one after another, a difficult question emerged: why would students choose to live in a dormitory in Hokkaido in order to attend a full-time general high school?
多様なバックグラウンドを持つこどもたちが集まる北星余市高等学校を伝えるために、学校生活に密着し、彼ら / 彼女たちの日常を伝えることを心がけました。高卒資格なら通信制高校で取得できます。しかし、1年生でぎこちなかった生徒たちの関係が、2・3年生になると変化していく。やんちゃな子も、ひっこみじあんな子も、互いの個性を認め合い、笑い合う。そんな北星余市高等学校が存続することを願っています。
To convey what Hokusei Yoichi High School truly is—a place where children with diverse backgrounds come together—3KG stayed close to daily school life and made an effort to show students in their everyday moments. A high school diploma can be obtained through a correspondence program, including online and distance-based high schools. However, watching the relationships among students change—from the awkward distance of their first year to something quite different in their second and third years, making it clear that the meaning of attending high school is not limited to academic ability or credentials. It is also about learning how to live with others.
Outgoing and energetic students, as well as quiet and withdrawn ones, gradually begin to recognize one another’s individuality and to laugh together. 3KG hopes that Hokusei Yoichi High School will continue to exist as a place of belonging for students who have felt a sense of unease in a society that demands “normalcy.”
学校案内
School Guide
2018-
CD : 3KG
D : 3KG
Ph : Mihoko Tsujita
写真家の辻田美穂子さんは、1年を通して足繁く学校に通い、生徒たちと関係性を築きました。写真には着飾らない素の生徒たちの様子が写っています。学校案内にはふんだんに写真を使い、学校生活をありのままに伝えています。
Photographer Mihoko Tsujita visited the school frequently over the course of a year, patiently building relationships with the students. Her photographs capture the students in unguarded, unadorned moments, just as they are. The school guide makes generous use of these images to convey school life honestly and without embellishment.
星しんぶん
Hoshi Newspaper
2017-
CD : 3KG
D : 3KG
かつては不良が集まり、トラブルが絶えない学校として知られた北星学園余市高校。時代が変わり、生徒たちの様子も大きく変化しました。近隣に住む方々や保護者、そして入学希望者に学校生活の様子を伝えるために、1年に3回庭しんぶんをアレンジした、「星しんぶん」を発行しています。
Hokusei Yoichi High School was once known as a place where so-called “delinquent” students gathered and where trouble was constant. As times have changed, so too have the students themselves. To share the realities of school life with local residents, parents, and prospective students, 3KG publishes the Hoshi Newspaper on an irregular basis. Hoshi means “star,” and the character sei (星), meaning “star,” is also used in the name Hokusei.
The newspaper is an adaptation of Niwa Newspaper, which 3KG publishes monthly for children and adults raising children, re-edited specifically for Hokusei Yoichi High School.
Q&A冊子
Q&A Booklet
2020-
CD : 3KG
D : 3KG
札幌から車でおよそ1時間、北海道にある人口2万人弱の街での寮生活に不安を感じる生徒や保護者は多く、質問が多数寄せられます。よくあるご質問に答える形の冊子です。
Students gather at Hokusei Yoichi High School from all over Japan. Located about an hour by car from Sapporo, Yoichi is a town of fewer than 20,000 people. Many students and their guardians feel anxious about dormitory life in such a setting, and numerous questions are received. This booklet was created to respond to the most frequently asked concerns.
