International Education Week is a worldwide opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange. On Friday, November 17, our school participated in International Week by inviting the school’s five foreign exchange students, who represent Germany, Poland, Taiwan, Georgia, and Latvia to speak to the American students in the world language classrooms. Information about their home countries’ languages and cultures are shared, and the Hempfield Area students had the opportunity to ask any questions they may have had.
Mrs. Shafran, the German teacher at Hempfield, spoke on the week saying, “I think International Week was excellent. We had a lot of interaction between the American students and the international students. It’s an awesome time to let the international students shine. So many of our students wanted to meet them.”
Referencing International Week and the opportunity to talk to the world language classes, Karina Kreichgauer of Germany said, “It was a good idea, so that the Americans could learn about our cultures and our country.”
Igor Bazylewicz of Poland further highlighted the experience saying, “I wanted to share a different perspective, and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of curiosity and questions from the other students.”
Overall, Hempfield’s part in International Week was a success, and it seems like everyone benefited from interacting with our international students.
Hollie Hill, the president of Global Scholars, helped to coordinate the events. She noted, “I think the international students got the ability to tell the rest of us a lot more about their experiences and culture since a lot of us didn’t know. It was an opportunity to engage with people they usually wouldn’t know.”
