Kennedy High School’s Japanese class has a running exchange program with sister school Narita International High School, located in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, since 2007.

The exchange goes both ways and takes place every other year, meaning Narita students come to Kennedy for a couple weeks in the winter, and Kennedy students travel to Japan in the summer. During the exchange, students get to stay with a host family where they will spend their time shadowing their host siblings to get an authentic cultural experience.

“Hosting a student from Japan has been such a great experience,” junior Hannah Barrow said. “I’ve gotten to learn a little about Japanese culture firsthand and it’s cool to see how different, yet similar, our lives can be.”

Amongst all of the schools that Narita does exchanges with, they have expressed that Kennedy is their favorite and most popular destination.

“The Narita students have a very favorable opinion of Kennedy,” Japanese teacher Daniel Carolin said. “They really like the friendly, welcoming atmosphere, the scenery and open spaces and learning about American culture and high school life.”

This year, Narita students traveled to Cedar Rapids from March 3-13, where they got the opportunity to participate in activities, clubs and classes at Kennedy as if they were everyday students.

“In the past, they have performed for the whole school at assemblies and attended school dances,” Carolin said. “They don’t have pep assemblies and school dances in Japan, so those are a big treat. This year they are going to get to see the show choir perform at Kennedy, another thing they do not have in Japan.”

Past students from Narita that have participated in the exchange speak highly of their time spent at Kennedy, which has helped the program grow.

“I know they hear from graduates who have been on the trip lots of positive things,” Carolin said. “The program grew in popularity on the Narita side very rapidly. They generally have 40-60 applicants for up to 20 spots available for the trip.”

This summer, the other side of the exchange will take place and 20 Kennedy students will travel to the Chiba Prefecture of Japan where they will experience Japanese culture and student life at Narita, just as Narita students have done the past two weeks here at Kennedy.

“My favorite thing is watching the students get an opportunity to make friends with people from a different culture and country,” Carolin said. “It is really my favorite part of my career as a Japanese teacher.”