In October of 2019 Sister Cities of Nashville welcomed twelve high school students and two English teacher chaperones to Nashville for our annual exchange. They were greeted by 16 eager hosts ready to spend the next two weeks welcoming them into their homes and lives in Nashville! The exchange kicked off with a Welcome Party on their first Sunday in town at the beautiful Forest Hills home of one of the host families. The group enjoyed favorite dishes made by their hosts and finished the evening with s’mores around the fire pit.
    During the first week the group split their time between touring around Nashville and attending school with their hosts. The group enjoyed lunch at Robert’s Western World, a tour of Belmont University (including their film department, where one of our hosts is a professor), photos with the murals on 12th Ave South, and a fun day shopping at Opry Mills Mall. The weekend was spent exploring Nashville with their host families and some of the students even traveled on day trips to surrounding areas.
     In the second week the group spent a day being hosted by BGA as well as their last day at school with their host students. The other days of the week they get to enjoy more of Nashville’s sites with a scavenger hunt at the TN State Museum, a fun afternoon exploring the Adventure Science Center, a tour of Paragon Recording Studio, a relaxing afternoon in downtown Franklin, lunch and a tour at Ensworth Upper School, and some fun times at Defy Nashville. The group got to enjoy a Nashville Halloween with costumes, trick or treating, and a Halloween party as a group! On the final day of their visit it was hard to say goodbye and several of the host students met the group at the airport to see them off. It was hugs and tears as the group prepared to depart and hopes they would see each other again soon!

At its annual conference in November, The Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association honored Sister Cities of Nashville with its Friends of Foreign Language Award for our work in promoting global connections and endeavors.
"We are incredibly honored to receive this award from TFLTA," said Heather Cunningham, Sister Cities' Executive Director.  "We have a great partnership with public and private school teachers who welcome our visiting exchange students as well as encourage their own students to participate in our Student Ambassador programs."