Last month, English exchange students visited from Mayfield School, our sister school in the U.K. Mayfield is about 50 miles outside of London and has both boarders and day students. The four students who visited Oak Knoll, Angela, Ayo, Darcy, and Julia, were met with warm greetings from the Oak Knoll community and their sophomore host families. The visiting students are all in year 12, which is the equivalent of our junior year, and were accompanied by Ms. Misiewicz, who teaches English at Mayfield.
The exchange program is a collaborative effort between Oak Knoll and Mayfield. In the spring, the Oak Knoll host students will travel to Mayfield and stay with their English counterparts for two weeks. The program aims to foster international education and promote cross-cultural experiences for high school students. While Oak Knoll has held exchange programs with other Holy Child Network Schools in the past, this is the first year we have done an exchange with Mayfield.
Over their two-week visit, the visiting students attended classes at Oak Knoll, participated in school-wide activities, and went on a trip to New York City. The students all said that going to New York City was the American experience they were most looking forward to during their visit. When asked about their first impressions of Oak Knoll the students expressed how they felt Oak Knoll was a more free and relaxed environment compared to their own school. They described how they loved our uniform, thought our food was very artificial, and related to our school’s admiration of Cornelia Connelly.
Angela (visiting Mayfield student) said, “I thought that this was an opportunity that I would never have again as I am getting older. Attending an American high school has always been a dream of mine, and this has overall been a great opportunity for my personal growth.” Darcy, another visiting student, described how she was excited to meet new people in America and learn from their experiences. As the Mayfield exchange students depart from Oak Knoll, their enthusiasm and the bonds formed during their stay promise to create impactful and lasting connections for the entire Oak Knoll community.