This page was exported from Advertiser Community News [ http://advertisercommunitynews.com ] Export date:Thu May 23 0:54:25 2013 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Shiocton welcomes foreign exchange students --------------------------------------------------- Eleven foreign exchange students are attending Shiocton High School this school year. Pictured in front of the school are, front row, l-r, Christiane Li, Jason Arjoon, Jorge Mena Garcia and Karoline Nordiede. Back row, l-r, Kenia Labata, Andre Landwehr, Naqeeb Ullah Khan, Anna Nielipinska, Rosine Van Sinderen, Marcos Mazzo and Hannah Hasenauer. - Photo by Keith SkenandoreBy Keith Skenandore, reporter According to the latest census, the current population for the Village of Shiocton is 921. The village clerk may want to consider increasing that number by 11 during the 2011-12 school year. That’s the number of foreign exchange students that are attending Shiocton High School. Kelly Zeinert, high school principal, welcomes the opportunity. "The exchange students are an asset for our school," Zeinert said. "Shiocton is such a small community and to have 11 students from foreign countries allows our students to be globally aware of what’s going on and make that connection with other countries and other students." Zeinert said the students bring a different perspective to classroom discussions. "When teachers talk about things that are happening they relay it to how things are in their country," she said. "They give a different perspective that sometimes our students don’t hear." Zeinert said the addition of the charter school helps dictate the number of students they can bring into the district. "The charter school, because of its international focus, has also dictated how many kids we are trying to bring into the district because they are focusing on international studies and global awareness," she said. "Because of the charter school we were able to bring in more." Here are the students and their different perspectives. Jason Arjoon of Suriname, South America is spending his junior year at Shiocton. "I think it’s a better opportunity to experience the rest of the world by beginning at one place in the United States," Arjoon said. "You also learn about the difference and similarities to your home." Kenia Labata of Spain said it’s all about the language. "English is a very important language in that it’s so universal," she said. "It opens up more opportunities." Jorge Mena Garcia agrees with Labata. "English is really important to society," said Garcia, a 16-year-old from Cancun, Mexico. "You can improve your level of English and be better with a computer." The exchange experience is a chance of a lifetime, according to 17-year-old Christiane Li. "It’s not only about studying and learning, said the senior from Taiwan. "It’s how you get along with people from other cultures. You have to adapt yourself to the American families and learn their ways to interact with people" Rosine Van Sinderen of the Netherlands (Holland) said she always wanted to come to the United States because the 18-year-old senior is interested in other cultures. "The best way to do it is to live there for one year and be an exchange student." Karoline Nordiede, 17, from Norway looks at this experience as a business opportunity. "When people hire and look at your resume," said the senior, "they look at if you studied abroad. "That’s a very important factor now." Marcos Mazzo of Brazil said he has already experienced studying abroad but this year is really important. "I plan on studying International Relations," Mazzo said. "This experience is the beginning of my exam." Senior Hannah Hasenauer of Germany likes the experience of living in a small community. "An advantage of a smaller town is that everyone knows each other," Hasenauer, 17, said. "For all of the exchange students it’s a really big deal for them. They are all so polite to you and really helpful." Naqeeb Ullah Khan of Pakistan says his view is much more different than everybody else. "After 9/11, there is a misunderstanding between the U.S. and my country," said the 16-year-old junior. "We exchange students are here to live with American families and show them that we are not that type of people. We are also happy people. "We are working here as a youth ambassador and here to remove that misunderstanding between our communities and American communities and live with them and their host families." There are many challenges that these students face. Mazzo says one of the difficulties is that social life is really different. "We party more," he said laughingly. Arjoon said it’s quite different being from a city that has a population of one million people. "It’s quite different, but I had a lot of difficulties here at first, but nowadays I’m adjusting a lot," he said. Hasenauer said at first she had difficulties adjusting but now she can express herself better. "With different families you have to know their rules," she said. Nordiede said one of her main problems was communicating. "If you start to have problems you can’t tell anybody," she said. "You have to do things all for yourself because you’re on your own." Being an exchange student isn’t all about dealing with problems and dislikes. "I like Subway," said Khan. "I can’t eat meat here." Nordiede said she likes the school system in Shiocton. "Each day is the same," she said. "You know your schedule." Garcia said his fellow students are really cool. "There is no bullying," he said. "They are really open to people that come here." Labata said there is no school spirit in Spain so the atmosphere in Shiocton is right for her. "You have the colors of the high school and the clothes of the school," she said. Arjoon agrees. "It feels different but I like it," he said of the school system. "You can wear whatever you want. Back home we have uniforms and there are strict rules." Li likes the freedom of the education system. "Here you can choose what classes you want," Li said. "In class, there is more discussion and essay questions." Van Sinderen likes the typical American things. "I like the yellow school bus," she said. "I like McDonald’s, football and basketball games and the mall because everything is so big here. Back home everything is so small." What’s surprising is that being away from home, these students don’t have problems dealing with being homesick. Anna Nielipinska of Poland said she was prepared to live on her own. "I knew that I was going to live in another place but I want to stay in my country," Nielipinska said. Li said she can see herself back in the United States at some time. "I want to go to some community college in California," she said. Garcia said after this year he will study in Spain and hopefully come back and find a career here in the states. Van Sinderen wants to return and find a job in the film industry. "It’s not very big in my country," she said. "I want to come back for one year to Hollywood or Boston." The eleventh student is Andre Landwehr from Germany. Zeinert said this is the most number of exchange students Shiocton has had and that has not been a problem. "This has been an outstanding group of students," she said. "If I could get a group like this every year I would take double the amount because they are wonderful students." As for next year, Zeinert said she is open to accepting a larger number of students. "The charter school is hoping for at least 10 to 12 students for their international component," she said. "I think it’s great for our school." --------------------------------------------------- Images: http://advertisercommunitynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/0206ShioExchange-300x199.jpg --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2012-02-13 09:37:31 Post date GMT: 2012-02-13 15:37:31 Post modified date: 2012-02-13 09:37:31 Post modified date GMT: 2012-02-13 15:37:31 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.ProfProjects.com