Groundhog Day has come and gone, and while I don’t put much stock in the furry critter’s weather predictions, his appearance each year is a sure sign that another round of exchanges will soon be underway.
As we get ready for the 17th season of the world language exchange program at Cary Academy, it’s hard to imagine our school without this signature sophomore experience. Yet when I tell colleagues at other schools that we send our entire 10th grade class abroad each year as a regular part of our world language curriculum, the response is always one of amazement.
It is without question quite a feat to plan and implement a program involving over 100 students each year traveling to five different countries on three different continents. The program would not be possible without the extraordinary efforts of the world language teachers who coordinate the exchanges and the faculty and staff members who serve as trip chaperones. The willingness of these educators to take responsibility for the safety and well-being of large groups of students while thousands of miles away from home definitely merits a wow response.
No less remarkable is the fact that Cary Academy has over 100 families each year who are willing to open their homes and their hearts to an international visitor and be part of a cross-cultural learning experience. This is not always an easy thing to do, particularly in the midst of a busy school year, not to mention the ups and downs that can come with placing strangers together for an extended period of time. The readiness of CA parents to embrace this opportunity in a shared commitment to the mission and vision of the school is a huge part of the wow factor of our exchanges, as well.
Cary Academy will be welcoming a total of 95 visiting students to campus this April. Two groups from Argentina and a group from France will be in Cary over roughly the first half of the month, and a group from Germany will arrive toward the end of April and stay through the first few days of May. During their time in Cary, our guests will visit classes with their CA partners and participate in a program of local fieldtrips and other learning activities. We were also expecting to host a group from China in February, but sadly, the group was unable to secure the necessary travel visas. We now hope that those 15 students will be able to visit their CA partners next February instead. In the meantime, 110 Cary Academy students will travel to Argentina, China, France or Germany from late May to mid-June, where they will enjoy a homestay and school experience of their own.
Local groundhog Sir Walter Wally saw his shadow on February 2nd, and soon another 200+ students and families from all over the world will be connecting, sharing and learning from one another, all under the auspices of our world language exchange program.
Wow indeed!
For more information about the world language exchange program at Cary Academy, we invite you to visit the program homepage on the school website.