Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

In the beginning, some folks might have said these kids had nothing in common.

In the end, perhaps, they realized theyíre alike in more ways than they expected.

Students at Southwest Junior High School of Forest Lake and Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis recently completed an exchange.

Spearheaded by physical education instructor Tom Cooper, 20 students from SWJH were selected to attend a day of school with a student from Patrick Henry. In January, the students traveled via yellow bus to experience life in the inner city.

Last week, students at Patrick Henry came to Forest Lake for a day of classes.

Cooper previously worked at Arlington High School in St. Paul. Then, he did a similar exchange with students in Hastings.
Exchanges such as this can work as a tool to break down barriers and support diversity, Cooper said.

ìKids are kids. They may be another color. They may go to a different high school. But they are all the same,î he said. ìThese kids have to realize itís not all Southwest and itís not all Patrick Henry.î

Cooper said this is an important life skill for these youth, adding the faces they see in college and in the workplace, will not be the same as their junior high experience.

Cooper said this is a program that not only will be repeated next year but the year after that, and so on. ìI want to try and build on it, get more kids involved. It is endless what we can do,î he said.

ìIt helped open my eyes a little more,î said freshman Andrew Hallberg of the experience. ìUp here, because itís more of a country town we like to talk more about dirt biking. Down there its more R and B, hip hop and sports.î

He was able to see the differences. Additionally, Hallberg said, he was able to see the similarities.

After completing the experience, Hallberg said he was glad to be a participant. It is an experience he would gladly do again, he said.
ìWhen I heard about it there was no way I wasnít going to say yes,î he said.

Freshman Misha Williams, a student from Patrick Henry, echoed Hallbergís positive comments. This experience, she said, has been a positive one.

ìEverybody in this school is really, really friendly. I met a lot of people,î she said.

Patrick Henry student Perkina Halbert may have been surprised by Forest Lakeís lack to a shoe store, but said she likes both Patrick Henry and Southwestójust like her Southwest buddy Katie Bor.

Being a participant in the program has drawn excitement at both schools.

ìThey always ask questions like how is the school different,î Bor said of her classmates.
ìWeíre all kids,î she said. ìWe all just want to have a good time.î

There is a difference, Bor said, in the diversity. The experience, the girls said, helped diminish the differences.
ìYou mainly just look past skin color. We got to know each other,î Bor said.

At SWJH, students were recommended for the program by teachers and then selected by Cooper and SWJH Principal Marc Peterson.
ìWe wanted a student who would do a good job representing Southwest,î Cooper said of the selection process.

Letters were sent home to parents informing them about the exchange.

None of the students selected turned the opportunity down, Cooper said. And when the program is staged next year there should be no shortage of willing participants.

ìIíve had many students asking to do it next year,î Cooper said.

Mike Doyle led the effort at Patrick Henry. Like Cooper, Doyle said there was no shortage of willing students.
ìThey just think theyíre out in the country. They think itís so far away,î Doyle said of the Minneapolis students.
Exchanges, he said, give the youth a better understanding of one another.

ìAll the stereotypes these kids see are being broken down,î Doyle said, looking at a roomful of students laughing with one another, sharing stories and experiences.

Robertson said this program was an easy one to say yes to.

ìThe credit goes to Mike (Doyle) and Tom (Cooper) and these 40 kids,î Peterson said. ìIím just really proud of these kids.î
It was Peterson who made the connection with Patrick Henry. He is friends with the principal at Patrick Henry, Paul McMahon. McMahon is married to an employee at SWJH.

ìPaul is a great guy. I knew heíd say yes,î Peterson said.

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