Elk Grove High School welcomes visitors from Japan

Elk Grove High School on Friday welcomed 14 visitors from its Japanese sister schools, Ashikodai High School and Ashitandai High School.

They are here through March 18 as part of the 28th annual Japanese Exchange Program.

The 12 students and two faculty members from Ashikaga, Japan, will spend two weeks experiencing American life with their host families.

They will have numerous chances to interact with Elk Grove students as well, including those studying Japanese as a world language.

Activities and destinations include a student council welcome assembly, a "food and fun" time at the school, ice-skating at Millennium Park, the Willis Tower SkyDeck, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute, a musical, a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert and a Bulls game.

The guests will join students from program coordinator Cliff Darnall's Japanese classes for a field trip to the Mitsuwa Japanese Market in Arlington Heights.

Seventeen Elk Grove families are involved in hosting the guests.

Community donations have been pivotal to the program over the years, allowing the school to provide the variety of cultural activities and helping Elk Grove students travel to Japan in June for the annual reciprocal visit.

"In high school, I knew that I wanted to see the world and practice my Japanese," said Chris Cirrincione, an Elk Grove High School graduate who is a now a teacher at the school. He will serve as a chaperon on the June trip.

The program has given students on both sides of the Pacific the chance to experience life in another culture and develop close international friendships.

Cirrincione said it allowed him to "experience Japan through full cultural immersion."