Supporting a Local Middle Schooler's Dream to Become an Engineer with Programming Experience

learningBOX, Inc. cooperated with Hyogo Prefecture's "Try Yaru Week" vocational experience program as part of its community contribution activities, welcoming one 9th-grade student from Tatsuno Higashi Junior High School for five days, from November 10th to 14th, 2025. This marked the first time the school conducted a vocational experience at an IT company, and it was also a first for learningBOX to host a student.
This acceptance was realized following a consultation from a guardian who wished for their son, who loves programming, to experience working in IT. The student undertook tasks close to actual work, including programming and UI/UX improvement, experiencing both the fascination and the challenges of technology. Through Try Yaru Week, learningBOX provided support as a local IT company to help the student formulate a concrete path toward his dream of "becoming an engineer."

The First IT Company Work Experience for Tatsuno Higashi Junior High School: An Opportunity to Connect with IT Work

"Try Yaru Week" is a workplace experience program for middle school students, initiated by Hyogo Prefecture in 1998. It is an initiative where 9th-grade students in the prefecture learn about social structures and community connections by working at local companies and public facilities.
While companies usually apply to be host sites, this particular initiative was prompted by a direct consultation from the guardian of a student at Tatsuno Higashi Junior High School, who expressed the desire for their son, who is interested in programming, to experience working in IT. Following coordination with the school, the acceptance was finalized.

Tatsuno City in Hyogo Prefecture is home to roughly 40 local industries, including sake, leather, and hand-stretched somen noodles, featuring several industries that boast some of the nation's leading market shares. However, the number of IT companies is extremely limited, meaning opportunities for local middle school students to gain work experience in the IT sector are rare. Given this context, this was the first time Tatsuno Higashi Junior High School conducted a Try Yaru Week at an IT company, and also the first time learningBOX accepted a student.

▼For more details on Try Yaru Week
Student Learning in the Community / Experience Activity Week "Try Yaru Week": MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

Leveraging Programming Experience to Convey the Appeal of IT

With the goal of "offering sensitive middle school students the chance to experience the excitement and challenges of the IT they use daily, and broadening their future options," we prepared a five-day learning course within our e-learning system, "learningBOX." In addition to materials that allowed the student to experience software development, we managed a programming glossary, a completion certificate, and a questionnaire all within the system, ensuring a smooth and structured vocational experience.

Day 1: Understanding the Company and Software Development Flow

A mentor demonstrated the flow of a programming change proposal for a clear initial image, followed by a detailed, diagram-based explanation of the overall software development process.

Day 2: Programming Experience

The student attempted a simple text addition change, experiencing the full cycle from proposal to review.

Day 3: Understanding Team Development

Shared information on how information is shared during daily morning meetings and Development Department meetings. The student practiced creating and implementing small programming changes.

Day 4: Bug Hunting and UI/UX Improvement

Learned how to find and report bugs, and collaborated with a mentor to brainstorm UI/UX improvement ideas.

Day 5: Presentation and Chat Session

I summarized the programming work I completed over five days and gave a presentation showing a demo (actual screen) in front of CEO Nishimura and three employees. Afterwards, we held an informal chat session. We enjoyed a relaxed conversation about impressions of the job experience and any points that caught our attention.

"I want to become a systems engineer." The Dream Becomes Concrete After Try Yaru Week.

The student, who was the first participant from Tatsuno Higashi Junior High School in an IT company's Try Yaru Week, shared the following feedback after completing the five-day program:

"I learned so many things, and most of all, it was fun. The workplace atmosphere was great—quiet, calm, and comfortable. I didn't understand a lot at first, but everyone taught me thoroughly and kindly."

"The most interesting part was Git (*1). Pull Requests (*2), for example, were new to me. Before, I was working alone, so I never used branches. (*3) It felt fresh, fun, and exciting. Going forward, I decided I will use branches even when developing alone."

He concluded with this statement of resolve:
"If I become an engineer, I want to be a systems engineer!"

It was clear that his dream of "becoming an engineer" grew into a more concrete "future option" through the five-day experience. We are sincerely delighted that our first time hosting a Try Yaru Week resulted in such a rewarding outcome. learningBOX will continue to work with the community to create learning opportunities.

(*1) Git: A distributed version control system used to record and track changes to source code and other program files.

(*2) Pull Request: A term used in software development, particularly within version control systems like GitHub. It refers to a request submitted by a developer to have their created code reviewed by other developers.

(*3) Branch: A mechanism for carrying out parallel development work, allowing a line of work to split off. Using a branch allows multiple tasks to proceed simultaneously and changes to be managed safely.