Taiwan Touring

On April 11, SJA opened its doors to a group of Taiwanese exchange students who had spent the previous week at SLUH. Each exchange student was paired with a Level III or IV Mandarin Chinese student for the day.
During first period, the exchange students and their tour guides spent some time in Mandarin Teacher, Ms. Heather Hughes’s (Hú Lǎoshī) room. There the Level I (freshmen) Mandarin students had the opportunity to interview the exchange students shile speaking in Mandarin Chinese. Students learned more about their homes, school, families, country, and culture. Then the older students had the opportunity to go even more in depth with more complicated questions to really get to know their shadows for the day.
After first period, the exchange students went with their guides to the Spring Pep Rally and parade for the dance team winning state. Then during second period they went on a tour of SJA with Mrs. Katie Richardson, Director of Global Education. Next, at lunch, the Taiwanese students made their ways through the lunch line and ate outside with SJA students. A few even participated in the Spirit Week blind karaoke.
During the rest of the afternoon, the students dived into life as an SJA Angel, tagging along for third and fourth periods. After their time at SJA, the students headed to Chicago for two days before returning to Taiwan.
Many of the students who were lucky enough to be guides for the day had incredible experiences. Juniors Colleen Dignam and Lana Wen were two such affected students.
“They were the sweetest people and it was such a memorable day, I’m so happy I got to participate,” Colleen said.
Similarly, Lana remarked on the joy of being a student guide.
“It was such an amazing opportunity to have and it allowed me to dive deeper into various cultures and grow my worldview,” Lana said.
SJA loved the opportunity to have these exchange students. All of the angels who saw their karaoke were absolutely thrilled, and each student that had the chance to get to know one of the exchange students had something positive to say about them. A select group of students from SJA have the opportunity to go abroad to Taiwan this summer as part of a Global Education program with Cor Jesu Academy and Saint Louis University High School.