Chinese Exchange Students Arrive in Huntington

As Part of the Sister School Initiative, a group of high school students from China arrived in Huntington Saturday to participate in an exchange program.

The 10 Chinese students will shadow 10 host students from  during classes and participate in a comprehensive set of activities with their U.S. peers centered around specific themes, according to the school website. Some sightseeing is also planned.

The group, from Tianjin No. 1 School, was introduced at the Huntington School Board meeting Monday.

"Maybe we have stereotypes about China as they have about us, but this is breaking that down," said Joseph Leavy, chairperson of humanities for grades 7-12 in the Huntngton School District, who introduced the group at .

Leavy said the exchange program is an example of engaging diplomacy which is probably better than the type of diplomacy that U.S. leaders had when they went to China a couple of years ago.

The first week of the visit will consist of the Chinese shadowing their hosts. They will visit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories during their second week of stay.

Ten host families in the community have volunteered to house the students and one Chinese teacher who also made the trip

The program is highly beneficial on and instructional and personal level for all involved, according to the school district.

"Nothing can possibly replace an actual experiential learning opportunity between different peoples from different nations which will establish trust and knowledge of one another," organizers of the exchange said on the school district website.

Tianjin, in the northern part of the country near Beijing, is China's sixth-largest city in terms of population. 

Huntington students are hoping to visit Tianjin next year, either during a school vacation or over the summer, according to the school.