Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Endowment Fund supports STEM outreach for Okinawa’s students and future

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Foundation (OIST Foundation), a New York-based not-for-profit organization, launches the Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Endowment Fund on Children’s Day, a Japanese holiday that celebrates children’s personalities and happiness.

A special online event announcing the Fund will take place for Okinawan students and feature Dr. Yuko Kakazu, astronomer and Outreach Specialist at the Subaru Telescope in Hawaiʻi and OIST Foundation Education Ambassador.

Registration for the virtual event is free:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OSSzU7VJR0GWexUqq0tj9Q

The Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Endowment Fund is being created by Bob Nakasone, a prominent Okinawan-American in Hawaiʻi. The Fund, named after his parents, fosters the promotion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in elementary and middle school students. STEM education is essential because it teaches critical thinking, increases science literacy, and creates the next generation of innovators. Outreach programs supported by the fund will be conducted by OIST (www.oist.jp) and will have a particular focus on middle school girls in order to shape their long-term interest in science.

This gift represents the first endowment associated with OIST. Further, the Fund is part of the special events taking place this month, which has been named ‘Women in STEM month’ in May at OIST.

At 16 years old, Matsuro Nakasone went to Hawaiʻi to work at a plantation to support his family in Okinawa. While Tsuruko Tamanaha was born in Hawaiʻi, she grew up in Okinawa. After returning to Hawaiʻi to work as a maid, she married Matsuro, and they had six children. They committed to providing the best they could for their children at home and for their families back in Okinawa.

Through hard work and perseverance, they built a successful small restaurant business in Honolulu and ensured that all six children went to college — something that had been out of reach for themselves. Of the six, five were in STEM fields and one in accounting. They have since passed away and their son, Bob, is establishing the Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Endowment Fund at the OIST Foundation to honor his parents’ commitment to education and their Okinawan heritage while providing support for Okinawan youth and Okinawa’s future.

Contributions to the Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Endowment Fund may be made here: https://oistfoundation.org/donate/

The mission of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Foundation is to promote innovative global scientific breakthroughs through enhancing and strengthening science and technology research at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and to empower Americans to support the sustainable development of Okinawa and deepen U.S.-Japan relations through OIST.

Source URL - https://www.einpresswire.com/article/539699139/matsuro-and-tsuruko-nakasone-endowment-fund-supports-stem-outreach-for-okinawa-s-students-and-future

* This article was originally published here