A citizenship ceremony was held Monday to welcome 7 international students to Morden. The students are part of the Western School Division's International Education Program.
Program Coordinator Babby Penner says the evening also included Mayor Brandon Burley naming the 7 students honourary citizens of the city.
"This is an event that we do every year and it's so special for us to be able to invite students to come and to celebrate them in our community as we celebrate diversity and just make them feel special here," said Penner.
Being an international student herself in 2002/2003, Penner says she can definitely relate to the difficult adjustment it can be coming to a new country.
"In the beginning, there's a lot of excitement, everything's new, everything's so much fun. But then they also come through stages where they're homesick...So there's a lot of good things, but we also have to work through some of those challenges that they have. But it's so fun to see, when they come, how much they have matured by June."
This year's international students have come to Morden from Mexico, Brazil, and Spain. There are two students in grade 7, one in grade 8, two students in grade 11, and one returning international student who is in grade 12 this year.
Penner notes they would have liked to have welcomed more students into the program this year, however, a lack of space didn't allow for it. "Last year we had 14 students, but this year with a little bit of a space issue at the middle school we have reduced our numbers for the middle school and that is going to look like the same thing for next year." Penner says until they can sort out the space issue at the middle school they hope to expand the program at the high school level.
Over the past 20 years, the Western School Division has hosted 170 students through its international education program.
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