Spanish exchange students visit ShopRite during cultural exchange program

WARWICK — On Tuesday, July 9, 12 of 15 Spanish exchange students and their leader, members of a group visiting Warwick as part of a cultural exchange program, arrived at Warwick ShopRite, where they purchased items for the Warwick Valley Ecumenical Council’s Food Pantry.

The students were scheduled to tour the store on an “education day,” visiting each department and learning to navigate the aisles.

American students may not appreciate this but for a group of foreign exchange students from Spain, a tour of Warwick’s ShopRite can be an important educational experience during their four-week stay in this area.

“They do not have supermarkets as large as this back home,” said Tiffany Megna, coordinator for finding host families in Warwick for the Spanish students and their group leader. “Where we may have a selection of 50 different choices of a particular item like chips, they may have only four or five back home.”

Food pantry donation
The students purchased $100 worth of food - items such as cereal, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, canned milk, granola bars and cheese. They then prepared 10 bags with each of these items and delivered them to the Food Pantry at the United Methodist Church. And while there they were introduced to some of the families, many who spoke Spanish, who benefit from the service.

“The students were thanked and shown appreciation for their efforts,” said Megna, “and that really seemed to make the day seem so meaningful.”

Megna, an area representative for the Center for Cultural Exchange, is a certified teacher, who fondly recalls spending a summer studying in Madrid.

“My Spanish is not that good,” she admitted, “so I tell the students that when we converse, they must speak only English and I will only speak Spanish. That way, they can correct my mistakes and they won’t feel as bad when I correct their English. We all benefit.”

Baseball as culture
The Center for Cultural Exchange is a non-profit International education exchange organization. Based in Chicago, Ill., CCI organizes high school exchange, short-term group home stay, intern and trainee positions and language programs in more than 30 countries around the world.

Megna, who works as a substitute teacher during the school year, is an area representative for the organization. Her job is to find host families for the exchange students and their chaperones and to arrange tours, fun events and educational programs during their four-week stay.

The students receive intensive training in English as a second language, art classes and an introduction to American culture including popular sports like baseball. They also enjoy recreational trips to New York City as well as local water parks and the like. Since group entrance fees are heavily discounted, many of the host families’ children have an opportunity to tag along at the reduced fee.

“It’s a win-win,” said Megna. “They all have fun and at the same time they are learning each other’s language and culture.”

For information on becoming a host family call Megna at 988-0626 or e-mail: 5smiling@warwick.net.

- Roger Gavan