A South Bay high school is celebrating students who helped win several national awards in a competition all spoken in Japanese.
Cupertino High School dominated the prestigious Japan Bowl competition in Washington, D.C., which got global coverage.
"As I began learning more and more about it, I began becoming much more involved in the actual transition, history, culture and all of it made me love it even more," student Anthony Koroteyev said.
The celebration comes as the Fremont Union High School District considers eliminating many of the Japanese classes as a foreign language option. The district points to declining enrollment as to why it is in the process of phasing out Japanese classes at three of its schools, including Cupertino High School.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
There were about 180 to 200 students enrolled at Cupertino High before the pandemic. Enrollment on campus this year was about 130 students.
District officials are coming up with various options and scenarios, but some Japan Bowl winners said they need a nurturing classroom setting.
District trustee Stanley Kou said the district will monitor the classes this coming year.
"This is not a done deal," Kou said. "We are still doing more study."
Some parents said they are skeptical about the chances of saving the Japanese classes, but will continue to try because they want the students' accomplishments to be a symbol of ongoing achievement - not a symbol of the past.
