By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

Nativity School students and staff members are (from left, front row) Jeremy Lamb, Alex Saunders, Kyle Hagerty, Mitchell Kinnen and (standing) Principal Bob Herring; (second row, from left) teacher Dave Arbogast, Alex Lotz, Allison Schultz and Mike Arbogast; (third row, from left) Sarah Smith, Amy Donelan and Nathan Doppes; (fourth row, from left) Megan Miller, John Fisk and Marty Behm and (at top) teacher Mary Gene Kling. Not pictured is Stephanie Unterhaslberger. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

PLEASANT RIDGE - Fourteen seventh- and eighth-graders from Nativity School are quickly learning the world is bigger than Cincinnati.

This afternoon, the teens are to wing their way to the Netherlands for a 10-day exchange. The trip marks the second time in three years that Nativity has been the only U.S. school invited to International Projects Week, where students from several countries work together in an educational summit on issues centered on a specific theme.

"If Saddam Hussein and George Bush had exchanges between students in Iraq and the U.S., maybe we wouldn't be at war today," said Principal Robert Herring, one of three chaperones for the group that returns Sept. 29.

Nativity's invitation to participate in International Projects Week grew out of the parochial K-8 school's 20-plus years of involvement in elementary student exchange programs.

Such ambitious programs aren't common but are on the rise nationally, said Marlene Baker, a spokesman with the American Field Service (AFS) U.S.A. in New York.

Middle school is a good place to start with international exchange, Herring said, because students are old enough to be away from home for a few weeks but young enough to be open to the experiences of different cultures.

"The global economy and linkages between other countries is stronger today," Herring said. "If we're going to prepare our kids to be players in this, we need to prepare them with these kinds of experiences."

Michael McCarry, executive director of the Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange in Washington, said most exchanges begin at the high school level.

Of the group's 68 member organizations, none offers student exchanges to elementary students.

Students began preparing for International Projects Week at the start of the school year. They've prepared debate topics on this year's theme - "Water" - and will participate in workshops and sport clinics. When they return to Nativity, they'll share their experiences with other students, faculty and family.

"It's very much a whole school exchange," said kindergarten teacher Mary Gene Kling, a first-time chaperone. "For kindergartners, it expands their whole world view and by the time they're in 6th grade, they're ready to go or be a host."

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