As the 1^st Carleton Place-Comrie ‘Sister Cities Student Exchange’ continues for another 2 weeks, the first contingent of students, teachers and chaperones from Scotland are now making their way to Canada, and are set to arrive this afternoon at Ottawa airport.

The Student Exchange program’s opening ceremonies, which were held this August in Scotland, was undoubtedly a success. With the Scottish students arriving today, local students and residents are excited to welcome the contingent from Carleton Place’s twin community, Comrie. The exchange students will be staying in town until the 21^st, and will be given a tour of some of the sights and sounds here in the region.

According to Jeff Maguire, Chairman of the Carleton Place Sister City Committee, they’re keen to play host to their friends from Comrie. When the contingent from Carleton Place went to Scotland in August, Jeff and his wife, Kathleen, were part of the 5 adults who went along as chaperones.

He adds that they got to know the students and teachers from Scotland very well, so it’s exciting to be able to spend more time with them once more.

Carleton Place and Comrie, a quaint village located in the Scottish Highlands, have been recognized as twin communities since 1992. This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the twins, with celebrations and ceremonies taking place in both communities to mark the occasion.

The town of Carleton Place, for the first time ever, plans to conduct a student exchange program with its original partner community in Perthshire, Scotland: the scenic little town of Comrie. The program will be sponsored by the Carleton Place Sister City Committee.

According to the committee’s chair, Ron Goebel, he expects a large number of applicants because when they (the committee) visited the participating schools last year before Christmas, there was a huge positive response from its students. They now have a few forms in hand from the interested applicants and they expect to receive more this week.

The applications shall be screened by the Carleton Place Sister City Committee who will base their decisions on how the Carleton Place students match to the 5 already chosen students from Scotland. Ultimately, in August, the chosen Carleton contingent will travel to Comrie and stay there for ten days. The students from Carleton Place shall merge themselves to students in Scotland and their respective families. In turn, in October, the group from Scotland shall do the same when they travel to Carleton Place.

Goebel said that the purpose of this whole program is to give a cultural and, most importantly, an educational experience to the students.