They may have been stuck at home due to ice and snow Friday, but that didn’t stop about 20 Bow High School students from traveling – virtually – across the North Atlantic to meet with a group of high school students from the Republic of Cabo Verde.
The Zoom call, which took place between the Bow High students and about 20 honors English students at Pedro Gomes High School in Cabo Verde, was facilitated by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who is visiting the island country this week for a signing ceremony to officially establish a state partnership between New Hampshire and Cabo Verde under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program. Bow High School and Pedro Gomes High School have also established a partnership, so the students can learn more about each others’ lives.
“I got all excited for the fact that the initiative had been taken, because it tells me that there could be more opportunities for education, not just you guys kind of leading the way but really allowing a lot of other students to connect,” Sununu told the students Friday. “… The relationship that these two schools have made has, I think, the potential to kick off something really, really big and really, really long-lasting for both of us.”
Sununu and U.S. Ambassador to Cabo Verde Jeff Daigle spoke from behind a podium in a Pedro Gomes High School classroom, where students were seated in front on chairs. Two Zoom cameras, one on each side of the room, gave the Bow students online two different views of the room.
As winter temperatures in Cabo Verde generally remain in the 70s, Sununu joked to the students that he wished he could have filled the military plane with snow as a gift. Several Bow students, whose in-person classes were canceled Friday due to the snow, angled their cameras out their windows to show off the snow accumulation in New Hampshire.
Pedro Gomes High School is a school in the capital city of Praia that spans grades 7-12 and has 2,000 students and 78 teachers. The students wear uniforms of white polo shirts and olive green pants, and they attend five classes per day. Students have their classes in either the morning or the afternoon depending on their grade level, one of the student representatives said, but their day typically starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at noon, with breaks in the middle. The school offers foreign language classes in English, French and Mandarin.
In his introduction, Ambassador Daigle commended the students for studying English.
“The reason you’re studying English is because it’s a tool; it’s a way to open up yourself, your school, your country to the rest of the world,” Daigle said. “English is spoken in the United States, but really English is the language of business, international business around the world. It is the language of science; if you’re in science you have to speak English; if you’re in airport control, you need to speak English. English is a tool that people around the world are using to better themselves and really increase the economy of their countries.”
On the Zoom call, the New Hampshire students had many questions for the Cabo Verdean students, about their favorite classes, what they do for fun and the geography of the island country. One Pedro Gomes student representative stood behind the microphone and answered most of the questions, though others called out answers from the audience.
The partnership between Pedro Gomes and Bow High is being coordinated by Bow teachers Derek DeAngelis, Colony Barrett and Heather Rosenbleeth. DeAngelis said Thursday that his goal is to open his students’ eyes to what teenagers’ lives and education are like around the world.
“We always tell our students the best thing we can do is travel,” DeAngelis said. “One of the biggest things is being aware of the world.”
Cabo Verdean long-distance runner Ruben Sança, who competed in the 2012 London Olympics, was also present on the Zoom call to share his story of immigrating to the United States at age 12.
“At first, I was scared,” Sança said. “I was scared because I didn’t know the language of English. I was afraid of the cold, and I really didn’t want to leave my friends back home. Lastly, I didn’t know if I would fit into the American culture. … The U.S. proved me wrong. I arrived in Boston and realize there were so many other immigrants here as well. Through unity, perseverance and hard work, I was able to take advantage of the many opportunities that the U.S. has to offer, including education.”
The students from Pedro Gomes asked Sança questions about the opportunities available for Cabo Verdeans in the U.S. and whether he could have achieved the same success without emigrating. One student asked about discrimination and what it is like to be a Black man in America.
“I think the U.S. has made great strides in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion,” Sança said. “And the U.S. continues to educate through high schools, through colleges, on all different programs and trying to find ways in which we can find value in all of us.”
At the end of the event, Sununu presented a gift of Bow High School soccer jerseys to the Pedro Gomes students.
Sununu embarked on the seven-hour flight to Cabo Verde Thursday, via a New Hampshire National Guard KC-46 refueler, alongside N.H. National Guard Adjutant General David Mikolaities, Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell and National Guard soldiers.
While in Cabo Verde, Governor Sununu also met with president José Maria Neves and gave a presentation to Cabo Verde officials to promote future prospects for business, educational and cultural partnerships with New Hampshire. The trip will be fully reimbursed by the federal government through the Department of Defense, according to the Governor’s office.
“We are safer as a state and country with strategic partnerships across the globe,” Sununu said in a statement Wednesday. “Not only will this mission strengthen military partnerships between our two governments, but it will forge connections between our citizens, sharing and promoting our cultures, values and experiences.”