History teacher Gianina Carbone is creating a program that helps to foster international communication and understanding by partnering with the Schoter Scholengemeenschap school in the Netherlands.
Carbone will choose seven students to participate in the program. Each student will be partnered with a pen pal in the Netherlands to correspond with over the course of a year. During their correspondence, the pen pals will discuss international issues that affect both of them.
“The goal is to write a paper about the topic they choose to discuss,” Carbone said. “The paper will be discussed from two different viewpoints: one American and one Dutch.”
The students will begin communication concerning these various topics through social media such as Facebook.
Another goal of the program is to allow each pen pal to travel to their foreign friend’s home. Dutch students would stay with their FVHS pen pal for a week. Then, FVHS students would venture to the Netherlands, and visit with their pen pal’s family.
However, the program faces financial problems, and will involve fundraising efforts if the exchange is to occur.
Carbone says that this is the “pilot year to test the waters.” While she is not sure if the program will come to fruition next year, she is trying her best to see that it does.
