Student Exchange Program

Program History

One of the first programs instituted when the sister city partnership with Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland became official in 1998 was the establishment of a student exchange program.  2012 will mark the thirteenth year of the program and the third time a student exchange will take place with Leshan, China.

Introduction

The high school youth exchange program offers juniors in high school who reside in Gilbert or are a student in a Gilbert or Higley school, an opportunity to develop an understanding of different countries, their cultures and people. The high school delegates are chosen by a committee through a selection process, which includes group interviews, a series of  individual interviews and informal gatherings with both the students and their parents. The students that are selected from Gilbert will travel to our sister city for approximately three weeks. During their stay they will have a chance to closely experience a new culture and make lifelong friends by living with the family of their exchange “brother or sister.”  The home hosted experience makes it possible for the delegates to learn about their host cultures and customs in ways not available to a casual visitor. The Gilbert delegates will bring back a wealth of fascinating stories about their stay abroad, their contacts with the people and the precious experiences, which teach them lifelong lessons.

2012 Student Exchange Delegates Announced!

Four students have been chosen to participate in the exchange that will take place in the summer of 2012.  The two delegates that have been chosen to visit Newtownabbey are:

Malea Lunt & Sara Siadat

The Leshan delegates are:

Selena Sanchez & Kellen Law

The alternates are Brooke Lindahl & Ciera Lederer

Congratulations to all those selected and all of the students that participated in the process.  This is a great chance to participate in a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

 

2011 Student Exchange Program Summary

Four students were chosen to participate in the 2011 program – Lara Ford, Sarah Hester, Cassandra Klosterman and Johnny Guzman.  Two of the students, Lara and Sarah, traveled to Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland this summer.  Their student counterparts from Newtownabbey were Naomi Cahill and Emma Callender.  Naomi and Emma visited Gilbert from June 27th to July 16th and then Lara and Sarah flew back with them to Northern Ireland and spent three weeks there.

Lara is a senior and is musical and plays the violin.  Sarah is a senior and is a swimmer and competes in sailing.

This is the second time in the history of Gilbert Sister Cities students were sent to Leshan, China for the exchange.  The two students chosen this year are Cassandra Klosterman and Johnny Guzman.  The Leshan students, Ding Chuhao and Luo (Vanilla) Chuyang, arrived in Gilbert July 1 and returned to China with their Gilbert counterparts July 20.  Cassandra and Johnny visited Leshan until August 8.

Cassandra is a senior in high school and is involved with the Diversity Club and Honor Society at her school.  She is especially interested in world history.  Johnny is also a high school senior and very involved in his studies.

Check out the following link to some of the photos Johnny took in China:

https://picasaweb.google.com/111038389319209858048/GilbertSisterCities2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP3QlsvYnKaJKQ&feat=directlink

Here is a sampling of some of his photos: