Josh Warnick, a junior at Juanita High School, has been selected for the highly competitive JET-Memorial Invitational Program, sponsored by the Japan Foundation of Los Angeles.

This program provides 32 high school students, who are studying the Japanese language, with the opportunity to visit Japan for two weeks. The program has a focus on the Tohoku region.

It allows students to participate in exchanges with Japanese students, see the current condition of recovery in the region and act as symbolic bridges to enhance the goodwill between Japan and the United States.

They will also participate in Japanese language courses and activities at the Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute Kansai.

As part of this program, Josh will participate in a homestay in Osaka, but will also travel to the northeastern areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami disaster of 2011.