On Tuesday, March 11, six educators from Huide High School in China took a tour of Barnstable High School. BHS school administrators Dr. Mary Czajkowski and principal Mr. Patrick Clark took the educators on a detailed tour of the school, along with members from the town council and two representatives from INSPIRITAS, Christopher Bogden and Wendy Wu.

INSPIRITAS is an exchange student program that will be introduced at BHS next year. This program partners with the schools of the Cape Cod Global Initiative, which includes BHS. Through INSPIRITAS, international students have a chance to improve their English skills and apply to top-tier American universities with American high school diplomas.

The tour of BHS began with introductions in the main entrance. Wendy Wu from INSPIRITAS served as the translator between the administrators. After a tour of the PAC, the virtual high school lab, B2B studio and the art department, the tour continued outside into the Astro Park with astronomy teacher Mr. Mike Gyra. The educators from Huide High School looked impressed by the pathway sculptures and the telescope in the David Cole Observatory. After a quick lunch prepared by students in the BHS Bistro, the tour continued on. The tour members witnessed a brief experiment by Gyra in his astronomy class and ended the day with a demonstration about magnetic force in Mr. Ken Holland’s AP Physics class.

Co-Founder of INSPIRITAS Christopher Bogden joined the tour on Tuesday. According to Bogden, this exchange program will start small and then eventually grow to allow more exchange students the opportunity of studying in Cape Cod. “The key here is to create a growing and sustaining supply of students,” said Bogden. Clark agrees that starting small will provide time to “work out the kinks and allow the program to grow.”

“There is much interest throughout China for international programs with schools that teach western curriculum in English,” said Bogden. “In today’s world, there are tens of thousands of children from the middle class who want to attend American universities.”

Mrs. Grace Lytle helped lead the tour as well. “To sit down next to someone with a completely different life experience than you is pretty cool. It’ll help our students, too,” commented Lytle.

According to Clark, for next year, Huide High School will be the first and only school that will send students to the schools in the Cape Cod Global Initiative. He hopes to eventually branch out from China and get exchange students from places such as Central Africa as well.

“Students and parents are itching for the education we take for granted,” said Clark. “People halfway around the world want what we have.”

The superintendent offices are currently working out expense plans for the students. Each student who studies on the Cape will be paying to attend the public schools in the Cape Cod Global Initiative. Clark believes the cost per student will be about 15,000 dollars per year.

There will also be homestay arrangements through Sara’s Homestay that will be open to the Barnstable community. Sara’s Homestay is an international homestay service for students. Current families of BHS students are welcome to host a student for one year, and will be compensated for doing so.

Clark sees no downside to this program. “The benefits are fourfold,” he said. “As our world shrinks due to interconnectivity with technology, having a global view of the world is important.” It’s not only good for the Chinese student, Clark added, but good for the community as well as it’ll infuse culture and broaden the horizons of our community.

The Chinese students will arrive towards the end of summer for orientation activities. According to Clark, it is currently undecided if BHS students will “serve as big brothers and sisters to help the students get acclimated” through National Honors Society or as a paid job.

The application process for students at Huide High School will begin after April vacation. Immediately following vacation, meetings will begin to review applications.