School District 72’s (SD72) international student program is flourishing.
Along with students from France, 89 students from 14 countries were in SD72 schools this school year, including Arata Tsujimoto from Japan. Tsujimoto chose Campbell River due to a Japanese comic book called Fishing Freak. It features the community in one of its issues. He read it when he was around five years of age, and as a high school student, his international advisor found an opportunity for him to do his international exchange in Campbell River.
When talking about his experiences here, Tsuimoto, a fishing hobbyist, talked mostly about nature.
“As you can see there, are a lot of different kinds of it here, bear and mountains,” he says. “I try to go fishing in the morning. When I go out, I hear the birds coming, and I see the deer walking in front of me. And once I get close to the river, I hear the noise of jumping salmon, and the bear is looking for fish sometimes, and it’s dangerous. That’s my best experience here. You know, the nature is quite different from Japan. I think nature is coexisting with civilization here, so that’s so special.”
Mercedes Hayduk, the international program manager, spoke to the board during their meeting on April 9 about the program, which featured a sizeable contingent from Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan. There was a mix of students from other countries as well.
Along with Rhonda Temura, student wellness advisor, and Kim Stix, academic advisor, Hayduk carries out monthly in-person check-ins and activities (such as bowling, pizza lunches, and beach fires) to help students adapt and feel more at home in Campbell River. In addition to the personal check-ins, the staff also check in digitally, with questions such as “How happy are you?”
“I think one of the big things we’ve heard is students struggling to make friends, [and] they don’t realize some of the skills that they need some help with and support with, so we’ve developed some nice tools for starting conversations and strategies for the students,” says Hayduk. “I’m happy to say, the majority of the kids are doing great and fine.”
However, there were a couple of kids who had been struggling. Hayduk says they know who they are and have been meeting with them more often. She also mentions the program needs to adjust. Some of the activities done in the past do not resonate the same way.
“So we’re changing things up and trying some different things for the kids and providing them more opportunities to come together because I’m finding that’s really what they need right now, where perhaps in the past they were able to have that initiative on their own.”
Home-stay, where the students live in the homes of people in the community, is integral to the program. Hayduk says the families the international students stay with have eyes on the students every day and are more likely than not to know when something is not right with the students. Host parents can help find solutions for the student and forge a close connection with the students. According to one of the online check-ins, Hayduk says 50 of 53 students feel very connected with their respective host families.
Last year, the district launched their first exchange program in France. Students from Campbell River went to the European country in July, while French students came here in August. It will continue this summer, with five students heading to France. A provincial grant helps alleviate costs for the students’ families.
“It was really interesting to hear the feedback from the parents [on] how much they appreciated the experience. I think that was a surprise for some of our local parents, how much they appreciated having that French student with them from August and interacting.”
Hayduk projected the program will have very similar numbers in the 2024-25 school year. Most students will represent Germany, Japan, Spain and Italy but SD72 will have their first exchange students from Hungary and Thailand. Students from Brazil, Switzerland, China, Taiwan and Switzerland will also be gracing the halls of schools around SD72.
Four practicum teachers from St. Gallen University in Switzerland will also teach at Penfield, Pinecrest and Sandowne.
“This is a relationship we’ve had for about a decade, I want to say,” says Hayduk. “We’ve had these student teachers come for a long time. Now we have this direct relationship with that University, so forthcoming in May, it’s usually very well received at the schools. Teachers love it, the students love it.”
Hayduck is also talking with a group in Ishikari, the Japanese city on the island of Hokkaido and a twin city of Campbell River, about resurrecting a young ambassador program, in which Hayduk’s daughter took part.