Pasadena High School Students Travel to Hiroshima, Japan to Present at Nuclear Disarmament Conference

Pasadena High School Nuclear Nonproliferation Club (PHSNNC) members Amadea Tanner and Kyle Espiritu along with club advisor and Pasadena High School (PHS) Assistant Principal Andrew King recently traveled to Hiroshima, Japan to present and participate in the 2015 Critical Issues Forum where students from the United States and Russia joined Japanese students to discuss nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

The goal of the conference was to educate students and produce future leaders who will continue to increase the momentum toward a world without nuclear weapons. The conference also commerated the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

The Critical Issues Forum (CIF) is a unique program of project-based education facilitated by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, CA. The CIF program is designed to promote awareness of nonproliferation and disarmament issues as well as develop critical thinking skills among high school students from around the world, including the United States, Japan and Russia, through educational outreach activities. CIF develops appreciation and understanding of different national and cultural perspectives on complex but vital international security issues.

The weeklong conference consisted of a trip to the Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial and Museum, interactive and cross-cultural activities cultural exchange with international students including homestays and a trip to Miyajima Island, and student presentations. Amadea Tanner was also on an international student panel discussing the future of Global Nuclear Education and Nuclear Disarmament.

The trip and conference was the culmination of a semester-long program designed to develop critical thinking skills and to engage high school students and teachers on the topic of “Nuclear Disarmament: The Humanitarian Approach.” At the conference students from PHS presented on the recent Humanitarian Initiative on Nuclear Weapons, a New Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that they developed providing a comprehensive solution to nuclear weapons, a timetable for nuclear reductions, and an emphasis on nuclear education, safe nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel disposal, and a dramatic video which explained the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and challenged the audience to make a nuclear choice.

The Pasadena High School Nuclear Nonproliferation Club will be hosting a Nuclear Disarmament Public Symposium on Monday, April 27 at 6 p.m. in the Pasadena High School Auditorium located at 2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. in Pasadena. The symposium will include a showcase of the presentation they gave in Japan, a discussion of their experiences in Japan and the Nevada National Security Site, a Q & A session, and a call to action for next steps. Present at the conference will be the PHSNNC members who went to Japan along with PHSNNC member Scott Lousen who was unable to make the trip.

Visit www.phsnnc.com to view the PHS Nuclear Nonproliferation Club research project, photos of the trip and presentation elements.