The Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation will take up to 10 students, eighth through 11th grades, from the Garland County area to Hanamaki, Japan, for one week in early June 2020.
Mary Zunick, the Sister City program's executive director, said the student exchange is an important part of the program because traveling to a different country or welcoming visitors from a different country shows residents the many differences in their languages and cultures.
"We are actually welcoming a student group from Japan here in Hot Springs next week. They will arrive and spend time with host families and visit schools and basically learn what it is like to live as an American teenager," Zunick said.
The Garland County students who are going to Japan reciprocates for Japan students coming to Hot Springs, she said. The students will not only learn about Japan's culture, but will also teach Hanamaki residents about America's culture.
Zunick said the students who are selected have to go through an application process. The students have to fill out an application on http://www.cityhs.net/sister-city and the top applicants will be interviewed and scored by members of the committee.
"Those students that are selected will meet several times before they travel to help them prepare for the trip," Zunick said.
The trip will be $2,500 plus the cost of a passport and other incidentals, a news release said. There are scholarships available for students who need financial assistance.
As a fundraiser for student scholarships for those interested in going on the trip, the program will host the Cherry Blossom Festival from 6:30 to 9 p.m. March 10 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
According to the festival's Facebook page, the tickets will be $35 for adults and $25 for students 18 and younger.
"We want the best students to be able to travel to Japan. The students who apply and score well on the interview and that would best represent Hot Springs," Zunick said. "We don't want any student not to be able to participate because of the financial means of their family."
The students will return to Hot Springs the first week in June, Zunick said. The committee will decide when the students will leave for Japan, which will depend on when they can book airfare. The students will have a chaperone on the trip.
All applicants must submit their application by Dec. 21 and only completed applications will be considered, the release said.
Hanamaki has been a sister city to the Garland County area for almost 27 years.
According to the city's website, Hanamaki and Hot Springs became sister cities on Jan. 15, 1993. Visitors from Hanamaki came and saw that Hot Springs was a good place to be and since then they have established a relationship that teaches residents of both cities about each other's cultural, education and artistic ways.
Local on 11/30/2019