A new exchange program between North and Newton College in Lima, Peru will be available to students in grades ten and above starting the 2024-2025 school year.

Each of the 18 students on the trip will host a student from Peru for two to three weeks in October and November, and spend three weeks in Peru in April. For two of the three weeks, students will attend school with their host student, and the other week will be spent exploring sites like Machu Picchu and Tambopata national reserve, according to the Newton North exchange website.

“The different culture in Peru combined with all the history and nature and ruins make it one of a kind,” said Spanish teacher Mariel Carmelo Ruiz.

Carmelo, who grew up in Lima, initiated the creation of the exchange in Fall 2023 by reaching out to contacts in Peru, and continued to develop it with Spanish teacher Christopher Alberg.

Students applying for the program are expected to have good academic standing and an exemplary disciplinary record, along with being adaptive, responsible, independent, curious and open to new experiences, according to the exchange website.

“Students should expect to get outside their comfort zone, to meet new people and experience different ways of living life like different foods, different people, different attitudes, and of course more spanish.” said Alberg.

In the first two weeks of the program students will spend their morning at Newton College, either shadowing their foster sibling or attending a study hall monitored by North’s teacher chaperones, and some days may include shorter trips to local museums and sites.

Students interested in applying for the program must submit an application, which can be found on the exchange website, by June 1, 2024, and can reach out to Carmelo or Alberg for more information.