During this AP® Japanese Language and Culture APSI, you’ll explore the course framework, the exam, and the new AP® resources that will help you plan and focus instruction—and give you feedback throughout the year on the areas where individual students need additional focus. You’ll also learn about completing the digital activation process at the start of the school year that will give you immediate access to the new resources and will help ensure that your students can register for AP® Exams by the new fall deadlines.
By attending this APSI, you’ll gain deeper insight into the following key takeaways, among several others: Understand the Course; Plan the Course; Teach the Course; Assess Student Progress; and Engage as a Member of the AP® Community. In addition, specific attention will be paid to the following AP® Classroom resources: unit guides, personal progress checks, AP® teacher community, and the AP® question bank.
SPEAKER
Manami Mata
Ms. Manami Honda Mata began teaching Japanese at Ed W. Clark High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004, after three years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and six years at Japanese supplementary schools. She currently teaches over 170 students in grades 9–12, from Level I to AP Japanese Language and Culture.
Within the Clark County School District, Ms. Mata has held leadership roles on the AP Professional Learning Community Cadre, Curriculum Task Force, Textbook Adoption Committee, and New Course Development Committee for Japanese. She has served as President and Vice President of the Southern Nevada Japanese Teachers Association (SNJTA).
Ms. Mata creates an engaging classroom environment through interactive cultural and linguistic activities. She integrates technology into her lessons through projects like cooking videos and interactive quizzes using Kahoot!. In 2014, her Japanese National Honor Society students produced a dance video to “Koisuru Fortune Cookie” to introduce their school to students in Japan. Ms. Mata also shares traditional Japanese arts, performing tea ceremonies and allowing students to experience wearing furisode (formal kimonos).
Beyond the classroom, Ms. Mata actively promotes Japanese language and culture. Since the Southern Nevada Japanese Speech Contest began in 2004, her students have regularly competed and earned top placements. Each year, her students participate in the AATJ National Japanese Exam and the Nengajo (New Year’s Card) Contest. In 2012 and 2013, her students were selected for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Memorial Invitation Program (JET-MIP). In 2014, Clark High School joined the KAKEHASHI Program, hosting and sending student groups for cultural exchange with Japan.
Mahalo, and welcome to the Hawai‘I APSI 2026
A New Location, New Experience and a New Sense of Aloha!
(The Aloha Spirit - compassion and kindness to all with whom we cross paths in our everyday lives).