- September 2, 2022 CSJ Institutions
Last week, five young women and two chaperones from France stepped off their plane in Kansas City. The flight arrived 30 minutes early, so the planned welcoming committee from St. Teresa’s Academy was sparser than planned.
This, however, wasn’t the first trip for Martine Wendzinski, one of the French chaperones and a former teacher at the sponsoring institution. She had previously traveled to STA with a different group of students from the same school — St. Joseph School in Le Puy, France. Some might recognize Le Puy as the place where STA’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, originated.
The two-week exchange program was initiated at a CSSJ conference in 2016 at Fontbonne Academy in Boston. There, Barbara McCormick, Principal for Academic Affairs, and two individuals from St. Joseph School — Wendzinski, then a faculty member, and Principal Christine Moure — met and came up with the idea. The trio decided such a program, designed to facilitate camaraderie and understanding between students from different cultures and backgrounds, would be a good way to keep the spirit and charism of the founding sisters alive.
Before the pandemic put a halt to travel, young women from STA made a trip of their own to the Le Puy school. These exchange visits were to be held annually, one year in Le Puy, one year in Kansas City. Now, with travel resuming and life returning to normal, students once again are welcoming each other, and sponsors and teachers are renewing their ties.
Wendzinski and her co-chaperone, Nathalie Schulz, are taking in the sights and experiences of Kansas City with activities such as a trip to Scheels and a Royals game, as well as a visit to Cafe Provence, KC’s award-winning French restaurant. Meanwhile, the girls are attending class and meeting other students while they get a feel for American culture. On their first day here, the French students paired up with students from STA, shadowing them throughout the day. On subsequent days, the visiting students will experience more of the interactive aspects of education at STA with their own personalized schedules that include time in gym classes, with the choir, and in the Makerspace, among others. They also will speak to the STA student body through Teresa Broadcast Company (TBC), the Academy’s daily live student broadcast, and record a video for their school back home in France.
The exchange, as its name implies, is more than a one-way learning experience. The French students are sharing their culture with host families as well as with their fellow students at STA. While attending STA French classes, they are sharing thoughts and ideas in their native language, and also are attending STA Freshmen Seminars to talk about Le Puy and lacemaking.
Other activities during their time here include a trip to the World War I Museum in downtown Kansas City, a visit to the CSJ Mother House in St. Louis and a stop at St. Joseph Academy in St. Louis, another CSJ school. The group also will visit Journey to New Life, a program for women reentering society after incarceration. Among Journey to New Life’s founders is Sister Rose McLarney, CSJ, who also serves on STA’s Board of Directors.
The delegation’s two-week visit will conclude September 8. STA students will make their next exchange journey to Le Puy in summer 2024.