Ten area students to represent Hastings in Japan

HASTINGS, Neb. --  A group of ten students from central Nebraska will be representing as Hastings Sister City Ambassadors in Japan. 

Hastings College said the Hastings International Exchange Organization (HIEO) selected ten students to represent Hastings Sister City Ambassadors this May on an outreach trip to Ozu, Japan. 

This year's Ambassadors will be representing four local high schools, and traveling to Japan. While in Japan they will stay with a host family for nine days where they will be learning their household routines and family structures. 

During the days, the groups will be taken by Ozu city officials to various sites in the area including Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji Park, the Bunraku Center, the Honda Motorcycle factory, and Mount Aso.

Along with those sites, the students will also visit Japanese high schools and make a day trip to Nagasaki, where they will do a tour of the Peace Park and museum.

When the students return to Hastings, they will serve as ambassadors for a year. 

Ambassador duties include giving at least one presentation to organizations in Hastings and talking to their fellow students about life in Japan. 

The College said the goal of this yearly effort is to encourage international understanding and education between different cultures. 

The following students from Hastings are the 2023 HIEO Sister City Ambassadors:

Hastings Senior High School

Yoselin Gonzalez Lara, sophomore

Kelyn Henry-Perlich, junior

Joseph Hoffman, junior

Lyssa Hoffman, freshman

Avery Lowther, sophomore

Thomas Roberts, junior

Robert Schmidt, sophomore

Adams Central High School

Xander Uhrmacher, senior

St. Cecilia High School

John Kryzsko, sophomore

Grand Island Senior High School

Hunter Bradshaw, senior