International guests to arrive in Dobbs Ferry

in the New York area,” Fish said

This spring Masters will welcome four students from Japan and 13 students from Senegal as part of a cultural exchange program. Dean of Global Studies, Robert Fish, and Upper School Modern & Classical Languages Teacher, Abdoulaye Ngom, will lead this program.

The students from Japan will arrive on Sunday, March 26, and depart on Saturday, April 8. Shortly after the Japanese students leave, the students from Senegal will join the Masters' community starting on Thursday, April 13, and departing on April 30. Both of these programs are long-standing Masters programs that were, unfortunately, suspended in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The goal of the program is to expand the Harkness table,” Fish said. He continued, “ We are inviting people who are not usually part of this institution, and who are not from here to join our discussion and join our friendships and community for a few weeks. I, and many others in this institution, fundamentally believe that one of the great- est things about Masters is that we learn from everyone else who is in the community.” He went on to say, “ When we add new voices to the community who are coming here, with very different experiences and perspectives than people who were here already, that enriches all of us.”

“It will be really exciting!

My advisor is Mr. Ngom so I've learned about Senegal and how French and Francophone culture is involved in Senegal for my entire high school career,” French Club Co-Chair Stella Simonds said. “It will be really interesting meeting more people from there.”

Each international student will live with a Masters host family. While here,they will attend some classes. Additionally, Fish will create an individualized class for the group based on their learning priorities. This will include developing their English skills. They will also have the opportunity to specifcally learn about the United States and New York through cultural immersion.

“That will be customized. I have created a general plan that will be fnalized after the students arrive. We will do things like exploring parts of Dobbs Ferry… We will visit the local stores and small businesses. This will give the students a chance to talk to people that own those stores and shop in those stores. Some days we will go off and visit different sites

The Japanese group will visit Bronx Collaborative High School, where they will participate in activities and get to know students from another school. “We are trying to arrange for the students from Senegal to visit a different school as well so that they can see two different environments,” Fish said

This program is a partnership between Jiyu Gakuen in Tokyo, Japan, and Cours St. Marie de Hann school in Senegal, Fish explained. It is the third time that students from Cours St. Marie de Hann are visiting Masters. “When we visit Senegal this summer, members of the Cours St. Marie de Hann will host our students. Most of the students coming here will be hosting Masters students when they go to Senegal. It's also a great opportunity for our kids to get to know them before they go and really create a deeper relationship and experience,” Fish said.

Fish has developed a longstanding relationship with Jiyu Gakuen. He frst visited Jiyu Gakuen over 15 years ago. “When we visit Japan, which we will do relatively soon, we will visit students from Jiyu Gakuen and stay on their campus,” Fish said

“I would like them to create a humanized, individualized element to our community's understanding of their country… There can be a tendency when you don't actually know people from a country to think of the country in broad generalities,” Fish said. He continued, “When you actually get to meet and talk to somebody or a group of people that humanizes the country, it makes the country real. I think that has real long-term impacts on the way the students here approach thinking about the world. I hope it creates some curiosity about other places in the world, whether it's Senegal or Japan, or just by meeting people from somewhere else.” Everyone from the Masters community will beneft from the exchange students.

“As an international school, we already are exposed to international cultures unlike other American high schoolers. Meeting international students will give us a chance to learn about their experience and ask them questions. People can make great connections,” Simonds said .