This story was a team effort. It was written by Bella Aldridge, Ayla Barton, Isabel Barycki, Keira Bixler, Oscar Castaneda, Morgan Castaneda, Donya Hassanshahi, and Hannah Johnson
Students delve deep into the lives of the five foreign exchange students attending Redwood High School during the 2022-2023 school year.
Before Covid-19 arose, foreign exchange learning was fairly common. However with the pandemic, foreign exchange students from the 2019-2020 year were left confused as to when or how they would be going back to their home countries once again.
As society pushes back to a new sense of normality, the bringing of foreign exchange students has once again been continued. Foreign exchange learning has been a part of Redwood and the Visalia Unified School District culture for years.
Redwood High School welcomes foreign exchange students. Click the names below for an inside look on each of their lives:
Redwood High School Principal, Dr. Amanda Richard reflects on the coming of the foreign exchange students, as she says, “I think having the exchange students here is really great because it gives them an opportunity to experience different cultures from their home.”
As this is Dr. Richard’s first year at Redwood High School as well, she says it was, “interesting because we were meeting all of them together.”
When first coming to Redwood, the students were taken along a tour in which they met their counselors, toured the campus and met various groups on campus, one being ASB. With this, the students were introduced to the different elective options and extracurriculars offered at Redwood
With this, Richard says that while there are foreign exchange students coming to learn at Redwood, “High school students at Redwood can also be exchange students elsewhere.”
“They don’t have the same experiences in their home countries that they get here. They don’t have the big rallies, they don’t have football or the elective options we offer.”
Dr. Amanda Richard
When looking toward the experiences the foreign exchange students are currently having, Richard says, “I hope that all of the exchange students are having a great time and are able to feel like they are a part of the Redwood culture. I know that the ones that I have talked to are really enjoying their experience.”
In this episode of the Runnin’ Redwood podcast, Donya Hassanshahi, ’25 gets an inside look on the lives of the fabulous five foreign exchange students attending Redwood High School during the 2022-2023 school year.
Donya Hassanshahi
Donya Hassanshahi, '24 is a third year journalism student writing for the Redwood Gigantea. She seeks interest in the Humans of Redwood, hoping to inspire the Redwood community with her writing. You can reach her by her email at donya.hassanshahi@gmail.com.
Tags: ayla barton, Bella Aldridge, Donya Hassanshahi, foreign exchange students, hannah johnson, humans of redwood, Isabel Barycki, keira bixler, Morgan Castaneda, oscar castaneda, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, visalia ca