Global Classroom Awards
Westford Academy
30 Patten Road
Westford, MA 01886
Principal: James Antonelli
School Contact and Essay Author: Michael Joyce, International Student Coordinator
Thirty years ago, the hardest part of getting a student group from Westford, Massachusetts to go to Europe was explaining how, where, and why to get a passport.
This year, we are offering a student trip to China. We have had some difficulty finding enough students not for the same reason as thirty years ago but rather because so many of our students have been on or were planning on taking part in one or more of our many exchanges and trips! We have come a long way in those years and today are still working with and reaping the benefits of a very active international student community.
As I walk through the halls of Westford Academy (a public high school in spite of its name!) I see the following:
a Westford Welcomes the World wall with the names and pictures of over 130 international students from 38 countries who have spent a year or semester in our school.
a Hall of Flags with 58 flags from all the countries and states of students who have graced our school, proudly draped in our impressive foyer. These students, from every corner of the globe, present us with plaques to remember them by and flags of their countries or states at our end of the year tribute to the role they have played in our lives.
a Westford Visits the World bulletin board with the names of over 1000 Westford students who have traveled with the school on home-stay/study programs and tours, or spent a semester or a year as a student in another country.
a very supportive Principal - in fact there have been four who knows the value of such experiences and who supports our efforts to bring as many international students into our school as possible.
a paid International Student Coordinator who recruits host families, supervises those families and their new sons and daughters, troubleshoots, and supports the international students during their exciting and challenging year.
a specially designated International Student Counselor, one who is solely responsible for creating their school schedules and changing them often to make sure they are in the appropriate math, science or foreign language courses.
a Faculty who, year after year, excitedly asks where our new students hail from, warmly welcomes them into their classes, accommodates and tutors them in the beginning until their language skills improve, coaches them, and even invites them to their homes.
and, of course, the International Students themselves, this year representing Switzerland, France, Germany, and Sweden.
They come to us through AFS, AIFS, ASSE, YFU, GAPP, Congress-Bundestag and private exchanges. Though sometimes difficult, we always manage to find gracious Westford families who are willing to open up their homes and take in a new teenager who soon becomes a new member of the family.
Naturally, much of the focus on these international endeavors comes from our Foreign Language Department, yet several other departments are also actively involved in fostering global curiosity in our students. We have long-standing partnerships with schools in Germany and France as well as trips to Spanish-speaking countries, the classical worlds of ancient Rome and Greece, and to our neighbors in Québec. Our Social Studies Department ran a government-funded exchange with Belarus for several years and this year is instrumental in the previously mentioned China trip. The Art Department offers an art and architecture tour to Japan, the Music Department plays in cathedrals and schools in Austria. All of this is supported by an active International Club and is helped by programs such as our annual International Night with over 90 student and parent presenters representing 45 different cultures.
What comes of all this? These foreigners who visit us become our friends. We all start thinking of each other as a little less foreign. (As you may have noticed, we even refer to ourselves as international students and communities.) We serve as Best Man in each others' weddings. We return to our hosts with newborn infants in arms. We vacation together. We learn about each others' countries and languages. We become real people. And we learn that the world is a friendly place and much bigger and more interesting than the immediate world around us.