The following article is a translation from The Yomiuri Shimbun's Education Renaissance series. 　This installment--the first in a five-part set in the series, which looks into activities carried out in various areas as part of the Newspapers in Education (NIE) movement--focuses on a group of teachers in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, who discuss topics from newspaper articles and share their ideas about how to utilize these materials in class. By Nobuyuki Sakai　Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer School teachers in Amakusa,Kumamoto Prefecture,exchange opinions on how to utilize news articles in class under their Newspapers in Education programs at a local citizens center on Sept.29. 　AMAKUSA, Kumamoto--On a weeknight in late September, local schoolteachers fresh from coaching after-school club activities gathered at an Amakusa municipal government citizens center. 　At the center's staff office, the teachers picked up bundles of the day's morning and evening newspapers, brought them to a conference room, and began a monthly meeting of their group--a branch of the NIE Network Kumamoto. The group was voluntarily established by local teachers to discuss their respective NIE programs. 　That night's session was attended by 10 teachers, fewer than usual as many members were busy preparing for school events. The attendees were seated face-to-face at desks, each scanning the newspapers for interesting articles. 　 "Well, let's start tonight's session," said a male teacher. One by one, members began making brief comments on articles that caught their eye. 　Mari Kiyota, a teacher from Ryonan Middle School, chose an article about a September incident in which an All Nippon Airways plane briefly flew upside down and could have led to a serious accident. "It's shocking that such an incident happened in Japan's heavily congested airspace," she commented. 　Another teacher agreed with Kiyota, saying, "I don't understand why this case wasn't made public until three weeks later." 　One teacher referred to the series of railways accidents in China this year. "There have been a number of man-made disasters lately," he said. The teacher then brought some humor into their serious discussion by saying, "Recently, I made some small careless mistakes. I should be more careful, learning lessons [from those incidents]." With his confession, the attendees burst into laughter. 　When it came to an article about Shuji Nakamura being honored with an Emmy Award for his contribution to television technology, the teachers discussed the brain drain of Japanese scientists and engineers, including Nakamura, who is widely known as the inventor of blue LEDs. 　In relation to an article about sumo wrestler Kotoshogiku's promotion to ozeki, the teachers heatedly debated the meaning of "banri ikku"--a phrase Kotoshogiku quoted from a book written by the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) during his promotion ceremony in late September. 　Through these debates, the teachers often come up with ideas on how to utilize newspaper articles as a study resource in their classes. 　After the discussions, one attendee, Shinichiro Tanaka from Hondo Middle School, began a presentation explaining how he uses newspapers to encourage students to read an article during a once-a-week, 15-minute session in the morning before starting a regular class. For the morning lessons, he selects stories that seem likely to interest students to make it easier for them formulate their own opinions and convey their thoughts to others. "I want this to be a schoolwide program," the 37-year-old teacher said. 　Encouraging Tanaka, one teacher said, "Go for it. Make [the program] take a hold in your school by winning over other teachers." This encouragement or advice can help motivate a teacher trying a unique program on their own, the group members said. 　As one of the founders of the Amakusa branch, Tanaka says: "Anyone can join us and have cross-school exchanges. It inspires us to pursue education tailored to each development stage for students." 　During their sessions, members examine articles run in that day's newspapers together and engage in free-form discussions. 　Many teachers across the country have adopted the Amakusa group's style for their own study groups, believing it helps them become more familiar with newspapers.