Students recount experiences in China

PINE PLAINS — The Pine Plains Board of Education (BOE) introduced four Stissing Mountain High School students on Wednesday, May 3, who were in China March 20 through March 26, at the special invitation of Nanjing Middle School #29 Principal Hua Minyou in China.

The China Exchange Program was initiated during the 1998-99 school year by Advisor Karen  Pogoda, who ran the program for 14 years. During that time,  Pogoda worked hard to offer students a greater sense of the country they were visiting, whether it was Chinese students visiting the United States or Pine Plains students taking a trip to China.

For 12 of her 14 years,  Pogoda collaborated with Principal Minyou in China. The two forged a strong relationship. Minyou wound up at Middle School #29 in Nanjing, China. From there, he extended an invitation to Pine Plains students to attend the International Symposium on Water Resources, and to check out Middle School #29.

Though  Pogoda has traveled often to China, she has never grown tired of the experience.

“Each group of students has a different personality,” said  Pogoda. “The synergy with each group is different, so to me, it’s very exciting to see each student have an aha moment and realize that as much as we are different, we’re very much the same.”

Samantha Lossee, Aidan Reilly, Molly Lacourse and Tessa Kilmer were the four students who traveled with  Pogoda and high-school teacher Mark McGuire to Nanjing.

“They were very good representatives of themselves, of our school, of our community and even of the United States,”  Pogoda said.

 Pogoda presented the BOE with a booklet that summarized all of the presentations made at the symposium. Junior Tessa Kilmer was the first student to tell the board about her travels abroad.

“I had a great time on the trip and I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat, especially since it was so in line with what I want to do in the future,” Kilmer said.

According to Kilmer, the four students created a slide-show presentation that focused on water resources, conservation protection and issues in both the Pine Plains area and the nation as a whole. The students also delved into environmental issues, like lead testing and President Trump’s dealings with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Kilmer said it was nice to observe the different perspectives from other countries. 

“The school itself was lovely and we met a bunch of students that we really connected with,” Kilmer recalled. 

She described how the students of Middle School #29 had gone above and beyond to make them feel welcome. The four students, Kilmer said, were treated like celebrities, and she laughed at the memory of being asked for her autograph.

“It was a very big deal, us coming there,” she continued. “It was really cool to be part of that experience, especially since they went into so much preparation for it and especially since we were treated so well there. It was very special for us”

Junior Molly Lacourse spoke about presentations delivered from other schools, like the German delegation team’s presentation on maintaining houses in the event of flooding rivers.

Senior Aidan Reilly said at the symposium, students took part in traditional Chinese activities; he passed around souvenirs from those activities to the members of the board. In one favorite memory, Reilly recalled an evening tea ceremony; he found he could communicate with the family based on language skills he picked up at Stissing Mountain High School.

“Through the program that is here, I’ve been taking Chinese for two years and I was able to communicate a little bit with the family,” he said.

Because of the experience, Reilly said that he plans to pursue Chinese in college as a minor.

Junior Samantha Lossee described the delegates’ travels around China, including a tour of the Yangtze River, a visit to the Nanjing Art Museum and a stop at the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai. 

“I had a really amazing time on this presentation,” she said. “My only complaint is that it was not long enough, which is why I’m super excited for the revival of the old exchange program we had. As for this presentation, I really enjoyed being able to not only educate people about the environmental issues and conservation, but I was also able to explore China, which is where I always wanted to go, and meet so many people from around the world. We were super lucky to have Mrs.  Pogoda with us.”

At present,  Pogoda is in the process of recruiting students for the China Exchange Program that has been set for spring of 2018. She plans to visit each grade level from nine to 12 to talk about the program. She will also hold an informational evening meeting for students and parents to further discuss the trip.

“I’m not foolhardy, and I take my responsibilities very seriously,”  Pogoda said, taking a moment to add that if the world situation were to change in the next few years, she would cancel the trip rather than risk the welfare of her students.

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