By Madeleine Coate
Staff Writer
Members of the Manhattan Beach Baja Club give students in Santa Rosalia, Mexico an opportunity to visit Manhattan Beach during the summer.
The Baja Club visits Santa Rosalia early during the school year, where Costa students stay with their hispanic hosts. The kids from Santa Rosalia speak little to no English when they come to visit. The purpose of the trip is for the hispanic students to practice their English skills, while Costa students practice their spanish skills.
“The kids from Santa Rosalia are really interested in the California lifestyle,” junior Michael Gottman said.
When the children from Santa Rosalia come to Manhattan Beach, they will visit theme parks, the Santa Barbara Mission, windmills in Palm Springs and various shopping sites. They will also attend Concerts at Polliwog Park, bonfires at Dockweiler State Beach, an Angels’ baseball game, a Goo Goo Dolls concert and a diplomatic dinner sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Fire Department, where they are will receive recognition for their participation.
“The students are likely to be astonished by everything from our unlimited water supply to our amusement parks,” Haley Orzeck, President of the Baja Club, said. “In past years, stores like Hollister have been an excitement to the kids, but Disneyland is the place they have most enjoyed.”
According to Orzeck, the students who are chosen to come to Southern California must have good academic grades and must be nominated by their teachers. Three of the students selected will be spending more than ten days here; one is staying for two months, and the other two are staying for six weeks, to learn English.
Though giving the visiting students a tour of California is a big part of the Baja Club’s purpose, it is not their only goal. Many members of the club also visit Santa Rosalia, Mexico every February.
“The mission of the club is to develop awareness of different people in the world,” Orzeck said.
When the Costa students visit Santa Rosalia, there is a ceremony that represents the joining of Manhattan Beach and Santa Rosalia students. Both presidents of the club and high-ranking town officials in Mexico give speeches expressing how thankful they are for their visit and how much they enjoy being a part of the program. The entire town comes to listen and watch the ceremony.
“It feels good because the people in Santa Rosalia really enjoy us being in their presence,” Gottman said. “More students should join the club because the trip is definitely worthwhile, and it’s a great cultural experience that they will remember forever.”
Leave a Reply