In October of this year exchange students from Spain visited Blue Mountain Union for the first time ever. This created meaningful opportunities for students who had always wanted to experience something unforgettable. In March, the exchange experience will evolve into something bigger, as the students are taking a trip to Spain.
Before talking about what they have to do to get to Spain, it’s important to understand why they want to go. Brynn Nelson, a sophomore participant in the exchange program, explains that she wants to “visit other parts of the world.” There are so many reasons why the students would want to go to Spain, a couple being: discovering new scenery or seeing a new perspective to life but as Brynn said, the biggest collective reason in this group of kids is that they want to experience another culture in another part of the world. 50%-90% of people never get to travel to another country. This opportunity that our local small town kids have is bigger than people could ever imagine.
To be able to switch roles and become an exchange student in early spring of 2026, each kid has to make a certain amount of money to be able to travel to the Spanish exchange students’ home towns! In order to do this, Blue Mountain Union’s Spanish Exchange program must fundraise.
The first fundraiser did not bring in much money, but the second fundraiser that is still raising money by the day is doing really well! Mrs. Montague, the Spanish teacher at BMU, explains that she is “Hoping this fundraiser brings a good amount of money to the students who have put in the effort,” this is because the rules of this fundraiser are different from the others. This fundraiser is a 50/50 raffle where each student sells as many tickets as they can. This rule helps each student out a lot because each member keeps half the proceeds they sell to help offset their own travel costs. This gives the people buying tickets a chance to win close to 400 dollars while giving the kids the chance to raise as much money as they need to be able to travel to Spain.
The goal for each student has not been completely reached yet although in January or February another fundraiser may occur. This final fundraiser would allow students to have spending money and pay off any final travel costs for the trip!
The trip is scheduled for March 15th through 25th, leaving plenty of time to raise extra money. As the students reach their goals, Villanueva del Pardillo, Spain will be waiting for them! If you would like to help donate towards the students trip contact Mrs. Montague.
