Eighteen students from Hokuto, Japan, spent the last week enjoying the area thanks to the Livingstone-Hokuto student exchange program, hosted by the Crowsnest Consolidated High School and Matthew Halton High School in Pincher Creek.
The students arrived on Friday, April 23, and spent seven days with their homestay families and classes at the schools before departing on April 30. Nine students stayed in each of the host communities. At CCHS, students and staff welcomed their new friends in a school ceremony on Monday, April 26.
"This is an opportunity for our school in many ways," said Principal Wes Wescott. "We're a very small town, a small community, but we have a lot of heart, and you're part of that heart now."

He said that the school was very fortunate to have the program, which also sees CCHS students travel to Japan at another point in the year. The sharing of cultures both ways is very important, said Wescott.
Mayor John Irwin was also on hand to extend a welcome to the students and visiting dignitaries. He noted that there are a lot of differences between school in Canada and school in Japan. "But," he said, "as we've found over the years, we have much more in common."
The students attended regular classes at CCHS during the week, and took part in family life with their homestay families in the community. They also took special trips around the area, stopping at the Kananaskis Indoor Pro Rodeo and Fort Steele, among other places.