Longmont Sister Cities Association opens applications for 2023 exchange program
Oct. 13—All eighth- through 11th-graders in the St. Vrain Valley School District with a desire to learn more about the world are encouraged to apply for the Longmont Sister Cities Association 2023 exchange program, applications for which are open until Oct. 31.
Twenty-four student ambassadors will be selected to represent Longmont in their travels to one of three locations: Chino, Japan; Ciudad Guzman, Mexico; and the Northern Arapaho of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Eight students will be sent to each location next summer and will live with host families for roughly 10 days.
Any students within the school district are eligible, including those in private schools and homeschool programs. Applications can be found at longmontsistercities.com/applications.html.
Courtney Michelle, vice president of LSCA, said the organization aims to be accessible and affordable. Besides some spending money, airfare is the only cost for the students' families.
"We want anyone who has any interest in travel, language, or culture to be able to apply for and enjoy this program," Michelle said.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe's Wyoming reservation is the newest option for LSCA exchange students. Longmont became an official sister city of the tribe last fall, making history as the first-ever relationship of this kind between a U.S. city and a sovereign tribal nation.
"Our main goal with the Northern Arapaho Tribe was to become friends first and see where that could go without any other agenda," Michelle said.
Longmont students have been traveling to Japan since 1990. Michelle said the country was chosen because of Longmont's cultural ties to the Kanemoto family. The trip to Mexico was added a few years later in recognition of Longmont's Hispanic and Latino population.
In addition to giving Longmont youths these cultural experiences, the students of the Japanese and Mexican host families visit Colorado to round out the exchange next summer. With the Longmont student ambassadors, they will visit Denver, participate in volunteer activities, and participate in the Boulder County Fair Parade.
According to Michelle, international travel, especially though the homestay format LSCA offers, is the best way to engage with foreign cultures.
"It really instills confidence," she said. "For kids who haven't had the opportunity to travel before, this gives them a safe, controlled way to experience the world at large."
Michelle was an exchange student herself in the 1990s. She said her time abroad was instrumental in defining her love for travel.
"It's a life-changing experience," she said. "It makes you appreciate what you have at home and shows you that people are much more similar than they are different."
