Wednesday, February 11, 2004
|
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 |
|
Star International students talk to counterparts in Scotland From college tuition to the Iraq War, Sandy Creek High students found that their counterparts in Dalmellington, Scotland share many of their same views, concerns and hopes for the future. Five seniors participating it the school’s Star International program had a rare opportunity last week to talk to three Scottish students, who are also involved in the program, from Doon Academy in Scotland. StarInternational is an entrepreneurial program that allows students to form a small company and export and import locally manufactured goods to and from a foreign partner school. Sandy Creek has been working with the students at Doon Academy since the beginning of the school year, buying and selling each other’s goods as part of a small business venture created between the two. Thanks to Amber Dawson, a radio program producer for BBC Radio, and the generosity of Georgia Public Television’s Charles Edwards, the two broadcast stations were able to connect the students free of charge so that they could communicate voice to voice for the first time. “We had communicated by email but we’ve never had an opportunity to actually talk to each other. It was great to hear their voices,” said Nicole Carmolingo, who along with classmates Lauren Miller, Robert Collins, Corey Little and Ashley Cudsik, participated in the live discussion. The students on both sides of the pond enjoyed learning about the differences and similarities between the two. Since all are seniors, one thing on everyone’s mind was college and how to pay for it. Both were surprised to learn the differences in tuition costs. “They thought that paying $5,000 for a four-year education was too much. They were surprised to learn that in the U.S. it costs an average of $30-40,000. Their tuition sounded a lot better to me,” said Ashley Cudsik, who added that many Scottish students have to go into debt to finance their education due to the lack of scholarships to help offset costs. “After our discussion I just felt so lucky to live here in America. There is so much more opportunity here,” said Cudsik. The students also talked about politics and low voter turnout in Scotland. In order to get more voters to the polls, Parliament is considering reducing the voting age to 16. “All of us agreed that this was ridiculous. You don’t have enough knowledge of politics at that age to be making leadership choices,” said Carmolingo. Of course, President George W. Bush and the Iraq War was a topic of discussion. While the Scots regard him as a good leader, they question his reasoning for launching the war. “They said the media over there portrays Bush as being stupid but they don’t think he is stupid,” said Lauren Miller. “They feel that he has not justified the war enough but they are not angry with him. They still have respect for him as a leader.” Miller said she and her fellow students learned a great deal about the Scots and their way of life during the 40-minute discussion but there was one thing that alarmed her. “The students in Scotland seemed to know so much more about us than we knew about them. We spent our time asking them questions about their country. I feel as Americans that we need to be better informed. Our country is seen as a world leader but it is amazing how little we know about the world,” she explained. One thing the students had learned about the Scots prior to their discussion was that they love sweetened cereal. Sugary cereal is not a staple in Scotland so the students routinely place orders to import Lucky Charms from Sandy Creek. “They are able to sell the cereal easily because everyone loves it and it isn’t available in stores over there,” said Corey Little. The Scots send Sandy Creek golf balls from St. Andrews Golf Course and other golf-related items. The students sell the items to others at the school or anyone who is interested in buying the products. The students will continue to trade with each other until the end of the school year. Next year a new group of seniors will work with other students from Doon Academy to start another small import/export business between the two schools. At Sandy Creek, Star International is an elective class open only to seniors. Students apply as juniors and are selected based on written essays as to why they want to be in the class. Only 20 students are selected. Sandy Creek just started recruiting students for next year and already has received over 100 applications. “It is such a great experience. You learn so much about business and international business and gain real world experience. It is a lot of hard work but I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about a career in business,” said Miller.
|
||