ORLANDO, Fla. - Exchange students from Monroe High School and the Darlington School District participated in the "2012 Better Understanding for a Better World Leadership and Interfaith Conference" from Feb. 7 to 12.
Monroe's Honey Rind, Pakistan; Hala Matta, Israel; Yuliya Karetnyk, Ukraine; and Darlington's Seul Khon, Kazakhstan, won the trip when they placed first in the United States after making a total of 337 Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program or Future Leaders Exchange program presentations on their countries to 2,797 people during the International Education Month during November 2011. Presentations were given to various places including local organizations, nursing homes, day care centers and schools.
The conference was led by Muslim Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat, Syria, and his wife Kimberly King, Ohio, and was sponsored by the U.S. State Department and led by CECF (Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation).
Participants learned leadership skills to promote world peace through understanding and acceptance of diverse cultures and religions. The conference emphasized learning about and accepting different religions. The students learned about Judaism, Christianity and Islam by visiting a synagogue, a non-denominational Christian church and a Muslim mosque. They also had the opportunity to ask questions of an interfaith panel.
The students also visited Epcot Center, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The local group spent an extra day at the beginning of the conference in Cocoa Beach and took the Wildside Tours boat trip in the Thousand Islands Nature Preserve and the Banana River Lagoon.
Rind is hosted by Debra Thompson, Monroe; Matta and Karetnyk are hosted by Walter and Cheryl Wagner, Monroe; and Khon is hosted by Jim Sinclair and Lori Neumann, Darlington.
The students were accompanied by AFS volunteer, Lisa Hendrickson. More information is available at www.afs.org or contacting Hendrickson, Monroe, at (608) 325-3805, or Marjorie Bigelow, Argyle, at (608) 543-3883.
Monroe's Honey Rind, Pakistan; Hala Matta, Israel; Yuliya Karetnyk, Ukraine; and Darlington's Seul Khon, Kazakhstan, won the trip when they placed first in the United States after making a total of 337 Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program or Future Leaders Exchange program presentations on their countries to 2,797 people during the International Education Month during November 2011. Presentations were given to various places including local organizations, nursing homes, day care centers and schools.
The conference was led by Muslim Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat, Syria, and his wife Kimberly King, Ohio, and was sponsored by the U.S. State Department and led by CECF (Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation).
Participants learned leadership skills to promote world peace through understanding and acceptance of diverse cultures and religions. The conference emphasized learning about and accepting different religions. The students learned about Judaism, Christianity and Islam by visiting a synagogue, a non-denominational Christian church and a Muslim mosque. They also had the opportunity to ask questions of an interfaith panel.
The students also visited Epcot Center, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The local group spent an extra day at the beginning of the conference in Cocoa Beach and took the Wildside Tours boat trip in the Thousand Islands Nature Preserve and the Banana River Lagoon.
Rind is hosted by Debra Thompson, Monroe; Matta and Karetnyk are hosted by Walter and Cheryl Wagner, Monroe; and Khon is hosted by Jim Sinclair and Lori Neumann, Darlington.
The students were accompanied by AFS volunteer, Lisa Hendrickson. More information is available at www.afs.org or contacting Hendrickson, Monroe, at (608) 325-3805, or Marjorie Bigelow, Argyle, at (608) 543-3883.