Thursday, December 17, 2015

Virtual Exchange with Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio

On Wednesday, December 16th our junior English class participated in a virtual exchange with our sister school in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The Ursuline Academy students in Wilmington co-presented projects on The Canterbury Tales with their "sisters" at Ursuline in Ohio.

UA Wilmington and UA Cincinnati collaborate over Skype

Led by Tammie Sylvia of UA Wilmington and Dr. Kathleen Stall of UA Cincinnati, each of the girls created a new pilgrim on the journey of the Canterbury Tales and shared their new character with the group at large.  Students from both campuses then had the opportunity to ask questions which ranged from rationale for decisions in the creative process to cultural variances between the mid-west and east coast that were evident in their poems.

UA Wilmington applauds a presentation in Cincinnati
Throughout the exchange, both schools also had the opportunity to learn about the other.  Girls at both campuses introduced their schools, discussing details like school size, grade levels, class sizes, daily schedule, and other demographic information.  The students also shared details about their campus traditions some of which were similar to the other school and some of which varied greatly.  We even got an impromptu Adele performance by a student in Cincinnati - WOW!

Learning about UA Cincinnati
Sarah Looney '17 remarked: "I loved having the opportunity to share my poem, as well as listen to my fellow classmates and the girls in Cincinnati read theirs. I also loved how we were able to ask one another questions, have a few laughs and pretty much get to know one another as a class. It was such an amazing experience, being able to Skype with another Ursuline school, and I hope that we are able to participate in something like this again."




Junior Brooke Schmeusser shared: "This was a great experience that brought together Ursuline Wilmington and Ursuline Cincinnati. I felt connected to them even though they live hundreds of miles away and I have never met them before. There are so many similarities because we are both Ursuline schools.  I think that every English class should (have) this experience."


We look forward to many more exchanges with our sister schools.  What an incredible opportunity to virtually travel the world and experience different cultures through the strength of our unique Ursuline network.