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High School Program Goes Global
“But what struck me was how similar we are,” she said. “We met with students our age, and we bonded over Harry Potter and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies." This recognition of similarities—not differences—is precisely what the Weston Public Schools administration is aiming for with the creation of a new position at the high school focusing exclusively on foreign exchange. “We’re thinking globally, because the personal growth that young adults attain from world travel is immense,” explains Anthony Parker, principal of Weston High School. “Studying abroad gives them the opportunity to look at their own country from a different perspective, and see their own life from another vantage point. It truly infuses them and helps them discover who they are, and who they think they want to become.” The new role of Global Education Coordinator at Weston High will be filled by Kim Young, a history teacher at the school. “My primary goal is to get exchange programs up and running again, and liaise with our sister schools in China, Brazil, and France,” she says. While Weston’s students have continually participated in foreign exchanges for decades, this is the first time in over half a century that the school will oversee the program. For almost 60 years, the Weston International Association (WIA), an independent, all-volunteer organization, managed overseas ventures. However, a post-9/11 regulation at the U.S. State Department mandates that school officials must administer their own programs. “WIA is a fantastic organization and they did a marvelous job with the exchanges, but there hasn’t been a clear link between study abroad and how it fits in with our graduation requirements,” Parker notes. “Going forward, we want a better handle on coursework and how foreign classes could apply back home, because it should be linked to our curriculum.”
Parker and Young share a similar vision for global education, which Weston’s school administration endorses. “We continue to see increasing globalization and open trade,” Young emphasizes. “Students need to be successful once they graduate from high school and college, and a main component to their success is competency in understanding other cultures. In the business world, they will likely be interacting with people in other countries.” Parker agrees wholeheartedly. “Students are coming of age in a global era, so a world view is essential,” he states. “It’s a district priority for us—young people need to experience cultures different from ours firsthand, because it challenges our beliefs, broadens our perspectives, and lets us engage with people different from us. This is an educational priority, especially at a school and district of this caliber.” Young
Men and Women, Go
East “I’ve always wanted to go to China, and this was the perfect opportunity,” she says. “It was an eye-opening experience because I really learned about different cultures and people.” Recka acknowledged that the trip has had a direct impact on the classes she takes at Weston High. “We visited the Great Wall of China and saw the Terracotta Army, and understanding how ancient these things are gives me a broader view of the world.” Young says that the dozen students from Weston who journeyed to China with the larger group took classes beforehand in preparation. “They had a good intellectual frame for what they were seeing, so they really benefited,” she says. “I think they also started to see the impact of globalization—they took photos of McDonald’s simply because they couldn’t believe it was there.”
The young Americans also took an interest in China’s teen culture, which is similar to that of the West’s. “In Beijing, we went to an international school where the students spoke English really well, and we talked about movies, schoolwork, and tests,” Recka recalls. “Over there, every test they take has the power to determine their future, which I think is crazy.” In fact, Recka and her travel mates keep in touch with their new Chinese friends over the Internet. “We use Facebook,” she says. China aside, Weston students have historically had a variety of programs from which to choose. Traditionally, a student has spent an entire academic year at sister schools in Rombas, France and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Similarly, those schools have sent their students to Weston for a year to learn about American culture. One of the most famous foreign alumni to pass through the halls of Weston High School is the author of the 2007 best-seller, French Women Don’t Get Fat. The book, written by Mireille Guiliano, now CEO of Veuve Clicquot, was partially inspired by her stay in Weston in the 1960s as an exchange student from Rombas. She came to Weston slender, but she returned to France overweight. “Foreign students certainly get a taste of the choices US students have,” Parker declares. “But one of the things I’ve observed is that teens discover they all have similar issues regardless of what country they’re from, and even if they speak a different language, they’re all at a similar point in their life.”
Change and a vision of the way forward is certainly in the air, and a commitment to link global perspectives to Weston High’s curriculum is unmistakable, with new frontiers to conquer. During the summer of 2008, a group of thirteen teachers and administrators from the school system traveled throughout the Kabarole District in Uganda to visit recently-established sister schools. The spring 2008 journey to China was a stepping stone to providing more diverse travel choices for students, according to Young. “We’re trying to break into new areas of the world beyond Europe,” she says. “Previously, when referring to global civilizations, it really only meant Western civilizations such as those in Europe, so China was an attempt to truly embrace a more universal destination.” Weston is also considering future ties with Latin American countries. “We’ve had programs in the past in Spain, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and we’d like to revive them as well,” Parker says. One particular revamp under consideration relating to all of the programs is shortening the length of time that Weston students go abroad, and vice versa. In the recent past, the term of exchange was one year, but such a lengthy stay can be a preventive factor for some. Leaving for a whole year makes some young adults wonder what they’re missing at school and with their friends and family back home, not to mention college preparations. Young concludes, “My hope is that this internationally-focused program will continue to grow and expand, with connections in multiple continents. There are rich opportunities for students in all parts of the world.” |
Young’s
responsibilities include
making sure all paperwork
with the Department
of Homeland Security
and the State Department
is current, and she
will also be the school’s
connection with the
WIA and Weston PTO. “Kim
has a lot of energy,
and she has experience
with world travel,
as she helped organize
a trip to China last
April,” Parker
adds.
Not
that anyone dined
at McDonald’s
during the one-week
tour. “The
food in China was
really good,” Recka
recalls. “Meals
were served as a big
buffet, not the way
Chinese food is typically
served here. And even
though some of the
food looked familiar,
I didn’t
always know what I
was eating, but I
put it on my plate
anyway.” Likewise,
the teens were game
enough to try their
hand at eating with
chopsticks.
In
Brazil, the Weston
High exchange program
is extremely popular
with students. Almost
two dozen pupils typically
apply for one seat
to study in the halls
of WHS. And Weston’s
reputation is big
in China as well.
Parker went to Louyang,
China last spring
at the invitation
of a school principal
who had visited the
Boston area previously. “He
would like to send
2,000 of his 5,000
high school students
to Weston!” laughs
Parker. “Obviously
we can’t
accommodate that number,
but we’re
working on a six-week
exchange that would
host about six students
and two teachers in
the near future. And
we would send two
of our students over
there along with a
teacher.”