Ward Melville High School students recently had a mutually rewarding cultural learning experience when the boys and girls basketball teams hosted 38 high school students from the Hjemly School in Denmark in December.  

During the visit, the international scholars accompanied Ward Melville students throughout their class schedule to learn about the education provided in America.

“It was really interesting to learn about how their school is set up like a college – with larger stretches of instruction,” said Ward Melville senior Kiera Ramaliu. “The student that shadowed me was really surprised with the size of our school and student population, as the Hjemly School only has about 200 students.”

At the end of the day and in the spirit of fun, the students from both schools competed in a basketball tournament. Following each of the three games, the playing teams joined together for a region-inspired dinner. To share the experience with their families, Ward Melville students also played host to the Danish students by opening up their homes for them to stay that evening.

“Through our conversations, I learned how different the game of basketball is in America from the game that is played in Denmark,” said Ward Melville senior Dominic Pryor.

“I thought our lives were going to be so vastly different and was surprised to see that the cultural divide was a lot smaller and that we have many things in common,” added senior Matt Hudzik.