Fifteen students will live with Dutch families and attend classes in Jac P. Thijsse College in Castricum, Holland from March 23 to March 31. Throughout their time there, they will be living the life of Dutch kids – staying with their families, eating local food, and even riding bicycles to school every day.

Senior Joe Carmona and UDII’s Carlos Acosta, Natanael Cruz, Sebastian Granizo, Kobe Hurtado, Ivan Jordan, Mario King, Jerry Miraval, Liam Murphy-Torres, Liam Reilly, Ian Simmons, Sterling Stokes, Luciano Tapia, Devon Grant, and Christopher Viscel will be accompanied by four teacher chaperones: science teacher Chris Cogswell, Dean of Freshmen Glenn Cassidy, Dean of Lower Division Jim Duffy, and Director of the Drama Guild Patricia Flynn.

The idea of a student exchange came about almost a year ago from the school in Holland. The administrators of the Dutch school believe that international experiences enrich students’ education and even prepare them for their futures, and students from Jac P. Thijsse College have traveled to different places around the world – Boston, New York, Mumbai, and Gambia. They tried to send students to Newark before to Science Park, but plans never materialized. They still, however, wanted students from Castricum to come to Newark because of how different the society is compared to theirs. They saw this as an opportunity for students to learn more about different cultures. Therefore, they started a relationship with Fr. Edwin Leahy O.S.B. in the Fall of last year. The agreement was for Benedict’s kids to travel to Holland and for the Dutch kids to travel here.

“This was a great opportunity for our kids to see different places,” Fr. Ed said.

The selection process happened after Fr. Ed told the entire class of 2018 that if they were interested in going on this trip then they should sign up for it. The selections of the students were then made based off GPAs.

The students then got notified about who will be attending the trip. Throughout the beginning of the year to now, the students had to renew their passports and handle all the finances, such as having to pay $700 for the airfare. They then contacted their host families and got to learn more about them.

This reporter will be staying with a family of four, two parents, a girl, and a boy, in the city of Krommenie. The family notified the reporter of various different activities they will be completing during the weekend, such as trail running in the woods and taking a 16 mile bicycle trip up to Amsterdam.

The students will finally be departing tomorrow at Newark Airport.

“I am very excited for this trip. I hope to learn more about the Dutch culture, such as their traditions and social habits. I also cannot wait to try their different cuisines,” UDII Jerry Miraval said.

Update: And they’re off! Today, Senior Joe Carmona and UDII’s Carlos Acosta, Ian Simmons, Nate Cruz, Sterling Stokes, Sebastian Granizo, Kobe Hurtado, Ivan Jordan, Mario King, Jerry Miraval, Liam Murphy-Torres, Liam Reilly, Luciano Tapia, Devon Grant, and Christopher Viscel, along with chaperones Dean of Freshman Glenn Cassidy, Dean of Lower Division Jim F. Duffy, Science teacher Chris Cogswell and Theater instructor Patricia Flynn, depart on their trip to Holland. Mr. Cassidy and Sebastian will update the community on their experiences in Holland with daily blogs.