Seymour High School has the honor of hosting seven foreign exchange students in the 2019-2020 school year!  The students are: Josh Galbraith from Australia, Alex Vieth from Denmark, Tizia Tripp from Germany, Camboulas Vincent from France, Caterina Zanotti and Margherita Rodeschini from Italy, and Marina Lozano from Spain. Every week, there will be a feature on one of these students.

The first week The Owl Newspaper has the honor of featuring Josh Galbraith!

Josh is 16 years old and is from Adelaide, South Australia. The Owl Newspaper asked Josh a few questions about how his experience has been in the United States.

Question #1: How is your school different from school in the United States?

Answer #1: “My home school in Australia is quite different. Our curriculum has mandatory policies across the country for schools to wear a uniform. Mine being a private, Catholic school are required to wear a suit and tie each day as well as attend regular masses and bible study. Similar to Seymour elementary we have recess and lunch, but due to cafeteria absence, we are able to both roam and eat anywhere in the school (The soccer pitch, under a tree or on couches). An additional difference, unlike block scheduling are 7 lessons a day each spanning 45 minutes to cover 12 subjects a week, 8 of which are preselected until junior year. Another difference funnily discovered from personal experience, is Australian’s common use of curse words. At school or in the home, swearing is a normal part of life, able to be used when communicating with teachers and parents alike, rarely taken offence upon. Classroom wise, chairs at my school are sometimes cushioned and desks are connected similar to 300 building science classrooms, promoting collaborative work. Hands do not need to be raised when answering, but is rather done through conversation with the teacher and students as a group. Notes are never to be taken at my school and paper is rarely used due to work being more research based, having to answer with own findings and opinions. Unfortunately Australian work is much harder than Seymour’s but to compensate, assignments are given with a week to submit instead of two days. Study halls can only be assigned to students who have diagnosed learning challenges, but homework is surprisingly a rare occurrence. Phones, music, and movies are not blocked but rather allowed in class, exception to the rule of distracting anyone else’s learning. Seating arrangements aren’t a thing, but to my grief, food or gum is to be eaten during class time.”

Question #2: What is your favorite class here and why?

Answer #2: “My favorite class is without a doubt weights, as no written components are needed and simply because I love Coach Balsmeyer and the attitude he brings into the stadium each day.”

Question #3: What do you miss most about your home?

Answer #3: Back at home, I miss my school and the people who make it fun, evident of the sizeable paragraph above. Amidst that environment, myself, and many other peers agree that school life is sometimes far more enjoyable and exciting than the weekends can be.”

Thank you Josh!!

If one of these students are spotted, make sure to welcome them!