Sister Schools Reunited Again
2017 exchange students from Japan are welcomed to SUA with a dance party and movie day. Photo courtesy of St. Ursula Academy Toledo social media
By Grace Rawlins ‘26
A long standing tradition at Saint Ursula Academy is to invite a group of students and chaperones from its sister school in Hachinohe, Japan every year to come and experience life at Saint Ursula Academy in Toledo, Ohio. Sadly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting exchange students became a substantial challenge. However, this year marks the first return of the visiting sister school students since COVID-19.
While in Toledo, all visitors stay with a member of the SUA student body and their family or members of the facility. Mariah Britsch, a current senior at SUA, was asked directly by Assistant Principal Liz Huebner to be one of the hosting families for the coming visitors. She and her family kindly accepted the offer to host and are thrilled to help their visiting student navigate a new country.
Britsch commented saying she is “Very excited to spend quality time with her exchange student and experience Toledo high school life together!”
Specifically, she is looking forward to showing her visiting guest the SUA Track and Field team and going to cheer on her SUA sisters at sporting events together. Britsch only mentioned having one fear, which is the language barrier. Despite this, she wants to make meaningful connections with the visiting student and is willing to put in the extra time to make that happen no matter the challenges.
Students from SUA and the visiting students from Hachinohe visited former 2017 Toledo Mayor, Paula Hicks-Hudson in her office. Photo courtesy of St. Ursula Academy Toledo social media
Another member of the SUA community who is hosting a visitor from Hachinohe is Jane Pfeifer, the school’s Admissions Assistant and Written Communications Specialist. Pfeifer is hosting one of the chaperones accompanying the high school students from Japan.
Pfeifer and her family have a long history of visiting abroad programs with her husband traveling across the world for his college glee club and her sons participating in similar foreign exchange programs in high school. Pfeifer personally always wanted to pay those kind gestures forward for all the people that have hosted her family abroad before, and now she can.
Pfeifer also recalled a specific story from the Old Testament in Genesis where Abraham greeted three strangers, washing their feet and giving them bread. The three men were later revealed to be angels sent by God to deliver the good news of his wife Sarah's pregnancy in her old age.
“You never know when you might be hosting an angel,” Pfeifer said.
2015 SUA students switch uniforms with Japanese visiting students for the day. Photo courtesy of St. Ursula Academy Toledo social media
