Mr. Amaya Cole, principal at Washington High School, and Mrs. Lisa Garcia Stewart, Director of Student Services, were recognized during the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday for the successful partnership with International Student Exchange (ISE).
ISE is one of the largest and longest-running U.S. Department of State designated cultural exchange programs. The organization has sponsored high school exchanges since 1982 and has arranged successful programs for over 30,000 students from over 90 different countries. The partnership with KCKPS began during the 2017-2018 academic year.
Tammy Haught, Regional Advisor for ISE, shared several success stories the exchange students experienced during their time at KCKPS with the Board.
Veron Medic, from Croatia, attended Washington, where he played baseball for the very first time. Every time he stepped on the field, he was overcome with excitement. He is now attending the University of Derby in the Uk for architectural design.
In 2018-2019, Jirayu from Thailand became obsessed with bowling while he was here. He went home to win his regional Bowling Championship. His Facebook status says he is still living in Kansas City, Kansas.
In 2019, Jonas from Germany learned one of life’s greatest lessons while here in the U.S and had learned to stand up for the important things in life.
Over the years, Student Services and the administration at Washington High School have successfully supported cultural Exchange.
“From all of these students, the thing I want you to understand is that every single one of them says their lives are better because they attended school here in our community, at Washington High School,” said Tammy Haught, . “They learned valuable lessons, not just academic or athletic but life-long lessons. They each learned how to be a leader in their own right. Several of them received inductions into the National Honor Society, made superintendent’s honor roll, and two of them received full-ride scholarships to attend American universities.”
Join us in congratulating Amaya Cole and Lisa Garcia Stewart for their partnership with ISE and their commitment to bringing the people of the world closer together and educating the leaders of tomorrow.
Related: ISE Brings Culture to Darke, OH
