Schools
Granby Memorial High Hosts Japanese Exchange Students
Ten students from Chiba Meitoku Senior High School spent two weeks with host families in Granby as part of an exchange program that has been in existence since 1991.
Today is the last day in the U.S. for 10 Japanese exchange students who have spent the last two weeks attending .
The Japanese students, all girls from Chiba Meitoku Senior High School in Chiba, are part of an exchange program that was started between the two schools by Dennis Lobo and Micho Nagashima in 1991.
Students Koyuri Sato and Naomi Ooto said that they enjoyed their stay in Granby.
“Hiking - very, very natural,” Sato described Granby while testing out her English. “Many, many trees.”
Ooto pointed out a couple of differences between her school in Japan and Granby Memorial.
“We have a uniform,” she said.
The students also got a taste of urban life as well, taking day trips to Boston and New York.
Ultimately, according to one of the Japanese students’ advisors, the hope is to expose the students to a new culture and broaden their horizons as much as it is to help hone their English skills.
And the educational experience wasn’t limited to the Japanese students, as each one was hosted by a family in Granby.
“It has been the most amazing experience,” said Jaime Rechenberg, a chemistry teacher who served as a host for Ayaka Hirama and is the student advisor for the SPI exchange program at Granby Memorial High as well. “We speak in one-word sentences followed mostly by hand gestures. My kids are 5 and 6 and have fallen in love with [Hirama]. … We sat at the dinner table with chopsticks and we’re trying new things.”
Granby Memorial student Matthew Duncan, whose family also served as a host family, agreed that he learned a lot as well.
“I haven’t had much contact with people from other cultures,” he said. “Everything is so different.”
Nagashima, who is on his final exchange trip, said that it was unusual for such a program to endure for over 20 years.
“Three or four years and [normally] finished,” he said. “This one endures.”
Rechenberg said that she has one Granby Memorial student signed up for the Japan exchange that will take place over the summer, though she said that she hopes more kids will take an interest now.
Rechenberg said that she would like to know if a student is interested in signing up by April 10.
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