Education Exchanges

Rutland Middle School Student Exchange

March 2009 Kasugai, here we come! A group of ten Gr. 8 and Gr. 9 students at Rutland Middle School (RMS) in Kelowna and their families have worked hard for almost a year to raise funds for an exchange program with students from Minamishiro Jr. High School in Kasugai.
In August 2008, the RMS families welcomed students and staff from Minamishiro Jr. High School. The visit began with an official welcome at RMS with Mr. Ken Fix and Mrs. Yoshiko Fix representing the Kelowna-Kasugai Sister City Association. Activities during the visit included a cruise on the Fintry Queen, a visit to the Kasugai Garden, a hike across the Kettle Valley trestles, water slides in Vernon, a visit to a traditional Aboriginal sweat lodge on Duck Lake, an adult dinner at Summerhill, a group barbeque at Kaloya Park on Kalamalka Lake and much more. Gifts were exchanged and many photos were taken to remember the visit.
School District 23 approved the return trip and this month the Kelowna delegation is flying across the Pacific en route to Kasugai. The first stop will be in Hong Kong for four days of sightseeing. Then there will be another flight to Nagoya and from there by bus to Kasugai for a week of cultural experiences as guests of homestay families in our sister city. In support of the trip, the RMS Parent Advisory Council kindly provided team jackets for the 16 person delegation. The school sponsors and supervisors are RMS First Nations Student Advocate Mrs. Christina Verhagen and school principal Dr. Sandra Sellick plus four adult family members. Bags are packed and the group departs on Mar. 16,2009.