For the second year in a row, six students and one teacher from South America have traveled to Redmond for an exchange program called Building Bridges.

They will be attending classes at The Bear Creek School (TBCS), taking field trips to visit various Seattle-area landmarks and living with host families in the community. After three weeks in the Redmond area, the group will head to British Columbia for one week of holiday.

TBCS has welcomed students María Belén Garcé, Pablo Lucini, María Belén Ortiz de Taranco, Rafael Paganini, Mateo Suburu and Ana Vignolo, as well as English teacher and chaperone Eugenia Balseiro.

During the regular school year, the 16- and 17-year-old students attend Colegio Seminario, a 130-year-old college preparatory school in Montevideo, Uruguay. They were selected for Building Bridges based on their English proficiency, academic performance and behavior record. The application process includes student essays, interviews and recommendations from teachers, tutors and administrators.

The students’ reasons for participation in this program include a desire for first-hand exposure to the American culture and lifestyle as well as an English language immersion experience, a language they have been studying since kindergarten. The students will also share their Uruguayan traditions and customs with their host families and Bear Creek students.

The Uruguay Building Bridges Program takes place during Bear Creek’s JanTerm, a two week mini-semester in which Bear Creek students enroll in topical seminars that may not fit into the traditional academic year but are perfect for short, intensive study.

For more information, see www.tbcs.org/buildingbridges and www.tbcs.org/janterm.