‘Education without boundaries’ at Archbishop McCarthy High

By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

Photography: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO | FC

SOUTHWEST RANCHES | St. Augustine once proclaimed, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” The Cultural Exchange Program at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School is giving students the opportunity to not only read that book, but also to write in it.

Back in March, a group of 20 students from McCarthy got the opportunity to live in Palermo, a small town in Sicily, Italy. At the end of August, the host roles reversed, as McCarthy teens welcomed 20 Italian exchange students and their chaperones upon arriving at Miami International Airport.

McCarthy students greeted their “twins” with posters, the red, white and green of the Italian flag, the red and yellow of the Sicilian flag, Italian afro wigs and plenty of hugs and kisses.

“Every Italian tourist that came out from that flight must have thought ‘Wow! America is awesome,” said Giovanna “Gigi” Raffa, a junior at McCarthy High who, thanks to her family in Italy, is in part responsible for making the McCarthy–Italian Cultural Exchange Program possible.

“They gave us such an amazing time,” Gigi said of their host families in Italy. “They were so welcoming. We wanted to give them the same thing.”

Before their trip to Italy, McCarthy students had been paired, based on age and interests, with an Italian “twin” from the local high school, Liceo Scientifico Galileo Galilei. Thanks to technology such as email, Skype and Facetime, the Florida teens got to know their counterparts and what they looked like beforehand.

The McCarthy students lived as Italians for two weeks. They stayed with their “twin” and host family, spoke in Italian, ate Italian foods and went sightseeing to places such as the Greek ruins, salt flats, churches, the medieval town of Erice and the street market of “Il Capo.”

“It was an amazing experience,” said Kaylee Suarez, a junior at McCarthy High. “It was different. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. That’s why I enjoyed it. And everyone, they were so welcoming.”

Such was the grandeur of the hospitality that students were even honored by the president of the Sicilian Region (a role similar to a U.S. governor), welcomed by the mayor of Palermo at the city council, and even made the front page of the daily newspaper.

“It was unbelievable because we were right in the middle of the city,” said McCarthy’s principal, Richard Jean. “A lot of Italians are Catholic, so for them it was the biggest deal to have a Catholic school come and visit.”

The trip was not entirely touristic, however. McCarthy students also came to work with Liceo Scientifico Galileo Galilei, a school specializing in the sciences, on a joint project called “We Are What We Eat,” which compared Mediterranean and American diets.   

“Italy is famous for its food,” said Renata Barbagallo, a teacher at Liceo Scientifico Galileo Galilei who coordinated the project between both schools. “This is a comparison between slow food versus fast food. The taste, the sight and smell. The idea of slow food starts at the preparation and lasts until everyone relaxes around the table after a long lunch or dinner.”

Barbagallo agrees that pizza and pasta are among the more well-known Italian dishes, but she also highlights that fruits and vegetables are very prominent in the Italian diet — one that is transforming the traditional Mediterranean diet to a more international diet.

“This is why the topic of food was chosen: because it makes a fantastic comparison,” Barbagallo said. “So (students) enjoyed and understood traditions in our country, even through food.”

While two weeks is not nearly enough to fully engage in Italian culture, it gave the McCarthy students a memorable experience, and the hope of returning in the future.

The Italian students, for their part, also lived as Americans for two weeks, staying in the homes of their McCarthy "twins."  

“I’m so excited to be here because it’s so different from my city. It’s so big,” said Martina Aselmo, who was paired up with Kaylee and her family.

She and her fellow Italians spent their time here speaking English and immersing themselves in American culture, with a Floridian twist. Their two-week itinerary included a visit to Bayside, Jungle Island, the Everglades, the University of Miami, Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, a barbecue, Chipotle, bowling, ice skating, a Marlins Game, a football game at McCarthy and numerous other activities.

“We are going to compare Italian culture to American culture,” said Andrea Cusumano, an Italian student who was staying with his cousin Gigi and her family. “America is different from Sicily, from Italy.”   

“I think it’s more young than Italy,” said Ludovico Guereio, an Italian student and friend of Andrea who also stayed with Gigi and her family. “There are a lot of opportunities in America for kids.”

The Italian students engaged in some of those opportunities during their visit, especially those that arose during their time at McCarthy High School. At a welcome breakfast held at the school Aug. 31, Italian students received iPads to use throughout the school day, just like McCarthy students. Because they are from a high school that focuses on science, the science department at McCarthy also prepared special labs for them to engage in.

“They ran a physics lab for us so we wanna try and do the same for them,” said Christopher Caprio, the AP Chemistry teacher at McCarthy, who also took part in the McCarthy-Italy visit. “We want to make sure that they’re not just in school, but seeing everything around South Florida.”

Attending a high school football game, heading to the mall for some shopping, and having a caramel macchiato at Starbucks should help greatly in the process of introducing Italian teens to typical American teen life. Gloria Garcia, the coordinator of the Cultural Exchange Program at McCarthy, sees it all as a blessing.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students, and for them to come to the other side of the world,” she said. “I think it makes it relevant for the kids, instead of just hearing about it, to actually experience with another teenager what school is like, what family is like in a different culture. They have formed a bond. As a group they bonded quickly. That doesn’t always happen.”

Principal Jean calls it “education without boundaries,” one that has taken the students out of the classrooms and textbooks and into the streets, sights, smells, tastes and sounds of a foreign and beautiful culture.

Editor's note: McCarthy is not the only high school with a cultural exchange program. St. Brendan High in Miami has welcomed students from Catholic high schools in Italy and Spain for a number of years; Belen Jesuit Prep in Miami last year hosted an exchange program with students from China; and Chaminade-Madonna College Prep in Hollywood has been enrolling students from China for several years.