International Education Week: The enriching experience for our communities

As we celebrate International Education Week from November 14 – 18, 2022, we reflect on our international students and how they play an important part in our community. The Ottawa Catholic School Board is focused on providing a wonderful cultural exchange for international and Canadian students by learning about each other’s culture and traditions while creating opportunities for life-long friendships and memories.

A positive learning experience for host families

OCSB staff member Lucy Minkova, and her family, have had a wonderful experience hosting international students from different countries. “It is our first time being hosts of international students, and it has been a great experience so far. We have enjoyed every minute of hosting – the dinners, conversations, family events and outings. We have been learning from the students as much as they are learning from us.”

International students feel welcomed at the OCSB

Our international students say their peers and teachers make them feel welcomed and part of the school community. OCSB international student Vincent Bergmann shares, “People are very friendly and open-minded.” He also notes “there’s a lot of other international students at my school and you have students from everywhere. You have to be more open; I definitely gained a lot of openness.” When thinking about his host family, Vincent says “We hike and cook together; it’s very nice.”

Watch Vincent share his experience at the OCSB in this video.

Building cross-cultural friendships

Nurturing friendships between our domestic and international students brings a global perspective to our schools. As our international students always say, “these will be friends I have for life!”.

Stay connected with our International Student Program’s social media channels, where we share many exciting events, tips and student perspectives!

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Contact us today to learn more about enrolling you or your child at the OCSB.