Buena Vista Elementary Adventist School (Auburn, Wash.) recently linked friendship across the Pacific Ocean to officially become a sister school with Youngnam Sahmyook Academy in GyeongSan, South Korea.
School representatives including Ron Trautwein, principal, and Connor Hubin, student ambassador, visited Korea in September 2011 for a ceremony to establish the school sisterhood.
The sisterhood — an exchange of educational and cultural opportunities — began forming in January 2011 when a delegation of 22 Korean students and their principal visited Buena Vista, spent time in the classrooms and visited sites around Seattle.
Jennifer McGhee, sixth-grade teacher, and Valerie Serns, kindergarten teacher, also participated in a 10-day English summer camp in Korea.
Technology allows communication between the students of the two schools to continue through email, social media and video chatting.
"Technology provides an ideal way for Korean students to improve their English and allows friendships to develop and grow," says Trautwein.
Another group of 20 Korean students will be on campus in January 2012 to be immersed in classroom learning, stay with host families, and hold a sisterhood ceremony at Buena Vista.
"I can't wait to see some of the students I met in Korea and introduce them to all my friends here at Buena Vista," says Hubin.
Visit bvsda.org or Facebook for a gallery of sister-school ceremony photos.
