An international cultural exchange project linking American & Dutch students — centered around the themes of waste and recycling.
Trash serves as the theme for a cross-cultural Sister City virtual exchange between schools in Baltimore (USA) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands) organized and designed by theatre artists and educator Kathie diStefano from Avalanche Arts, a Rotterdam-based nonprofit. Students research trash topics and recycling strategies and make presentations to share with their counterparts overseas. They are inspired to reduce litter and increase recycling in their communities while learning about each other’s cultures. There have been several exchanges between Baltimore and Rotterdam over the years.
The 2022 edition of the exchange kicked off in February 2022 with Bay Brook Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland (USA) and the bilingual Wolfert Lansing school in Lansingerland, a suburb of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a sister city of Baltimore.
Bay Brook school
One of the highlights at Bay Brook took place in April on International Earth Day. Ms Sarah Vail, science teacher and Bay Brook exchange coordinator, put together a group of enthusiastic students for the occasion. Ms Vail gathered the exchange group supported by additional 8th grade students as well as lower level pupils to join forces to give Mother Nature a helping hand . The weather was brilliant and lots of trash got cleaned up during this inspiring community cleanup happening.
Wolfert Lansing school
The highlight in the Netherlands at Wolfert Lansing was a performance of The Eco News Show. This one act play is all about trash production, trash behavior and how important recycling is for our future. The show was performed in the Wolfert Lansing drama studio for an invited audience, including Nacoya Villegas, member of the Baltimore Rotterdam Sister City Committee, who was visiting the Netherlands at the time.
Impact
Throughout the exchange program students were taking a took a critical look at their own trash behavior, and how this affects the living environment worldwide and in their own neighborhood.
One of the most popular themes in the 2022 exchange was the “Trash in Nature” topic. Many students became alarmed about the state of our natural environment when they learned of the problems that our litter and illegal dumping of trash create in nature.
Another aspect of the exchange that is always popular are the introduction videos that both classes create to share with their partners abroad. Seeing and hearing about another culture located thousands of miles away is fun! Learning about what is different and being surprised by how many things we have in common kept the students curious.
‘Think global, and act local’ is a fitting motto for Operation Trash Virtual Exchange, linking students in Baltimore, MD with students in the Netherlands. We look forward to continuing to connect students in Baltimore with students in the greater Rotterdam city area.
Learn more about the Operation Trash virtual exchange program and Kathie diStefano