Hollister - San Benito High School is participating in two foreign exchange programs this year and hopes to get more students involved, both here and abroad, in coming years.
Although the school has only three foreign exchange students so far this year, Ruth Erickson, the community representative for the study abroad program Ayusa International, hopes more students will come to Hollister for the spring semester.
"It's a living geography lesson," said Erickson, who is English and has been involved with Ayusa International for more than a decade. "And if you open yourself up to the world, you that we're not very different, we're all very similar."
The second exchange program involved with SBHS is known as People Link.
Brazilian exchange student Vinicius Borges, 15, said the exchange program has been rewarding and has really helped to improve his English. He says he has learned a great deal at San Benito High School.
"I'm enjoying school, the high school is very cool," Borges said. "The United States is really a nice place to live and to learn. In my three weeks here I've improved (my English) a lot."
Borges is from Santos, a popular resort city of half a million in southeast Brazil which serves as the port for the capital of S-o Paulo. During the summer months the city's population nearly doubles, Borges said.
For Borges, the differences between Hollister and Santos are clear.
"In Brazil we have more trees and land," Borges said. "Hollister is a nice place. It's small, but it's cool. And in Brazil we go to school earlier and get out earlier, here it's a much longer day."
Borges said he misses his family and plans to throw a big party when he returns home at the end of the school year.
As for how many students SBHS sends overseas each year, Ruth Erickson said it may be fewer than six, which is fewer than the number of students the high school usually hosts each year.
San Benito High School Superintendent Jean Burns Slater was uncertain exactly how many students SBHS has sent aboard during the last two years, but believes the program helps local students gain a more worldly perspective on international relations and education.
"The students in classes with the exchange students benefit from hearing them, talking with them and being exposed to different cultures," Slater said.
Slater said she hopes San Benito High School students will have more opportunities to participate in foreign exchange programs and study abroad in the future. The school is working on expanding its current program in hopes that more SBHS students will travel to other countries to learn.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or browland@freelancenews.com.
Brett Rowland Brett Rowland is city editor for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 332 or browland@freelancenews.com
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