Revelstoke students welcome visitors from Ono Cho, Japan

Many RSS students get their first chance to meet the Japanese visitors at a special assembly Monday morning. Laura Stovel photo

By Laura Stovel

Twenty high school students and five chaperones from Ono Cho, Japan, were welcomed with gifts and an excellent choir performance at Revelstoke Secondary School Monday morning. This is the tenth visit by Ono Cho students to Revelstoke in an exchange initiated and still organized by Muskoka Language International in 2000. The visitors, who were scheduled to arrive on Saturday, January 15, had to overcome the challenge of getting to Revelstoke with the highway closures east of town. In the end they had an extra day in Banff then flew to Kelowna and arrived Sunday night, said Revelstoke program coordinator Wenche Beitel.

The visitors will enjoy a skiing lesson at Revelstoke Mountain Resort on Monday, and curling and a tour of the Revelstoke Museum and Railway Museum on Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon the Ono Cho students will hold a cultural fair at RSS, where they will teach Revelstoke high school students about games, art, crafts and sports from Japanese culture. The group will return home Thursday morning.

We’ll have more photos in the coming days. In the meantime, here are some additional images from Monday’s ceremony:

RSS students Emily Smith (left) and Charlotte Beglinger (center) welcome the visitors as Japanese tour escort and interpreter Hiroyo Kato interprets. Laura Stovel photo
Japanese student Mai Ito thanks her Revelstoke hosts. Laura Stovel photo
Hisashi Nagaya, Vice-Chief of Ono Town Board of Education, greets RSS students and staff on behalf of the delegation. Laura Stovel photo
The RSS choir gives an excellent rendition of the song Blackbird. Laura Stovel photo
Emily Smith and Charlotte Beglinger present the Japanese students with gifts as RSS principal Mike Hooker (left) looks on. Laura Stovel photo