The Avon Maitland District School Board has set a new record for International Student enrollment this year.
Superintendent Jodie Baker says they have students from eleven different countries attending Avon Maitland schools this semester; from Spain, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Thailand and Korea. Baker says she recently asked three students who loved Canada what could be done to make the program better and they said they wanted to see snow. She told them it was on the way. Baker says she very encouraged with how well the International students are getting involved in various student activities like team sports and joining school clubs and by getting involved they bring a great deal of diversity and awareness of other cultures to their host communities.
Baker adds they do monitor the numbers because they've found if they get too many students from one country and who speak the same language they tend to congregate with each other rather then mix with their host students.
“It's been amazing to hear stories from our students. They join clubs, they join school teams, they're going to semi-formals, they hang out and they've made new friends so it's just wonderful to hear. It's an amazing experience for our students and it's an amazing experience for the students we bring in.”
“I met with some students this morning who are from Brazil, Spain and Italy. I asked them about the program and said tell me what can we do to improve it and they love Canada and when I asked what is the one thing you need that you can't have and one student said the snow.”
“There are students here from about eleven different countries; Spain, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Thailand and Korea so we are so fortunate to have them in our system. They bring so much diversity and awareness of other cultures to our students.”