December 21

Cairns
Vice President George Hartz and his wife, Donna, spent four nights on our sister city of Cairns, Australia, in late November – the first visit by one of our Board members to Cairns in more than a decade. In addition to the usual sightseeing within the beautiful Cairns region (the Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda railway [...]

9:08 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Annual Meeting
Mark your calendar now. The SSCA annual meeting is scheduled for March 19, 2012. It will be held in the Scottsdale City Hall’s Kiva Forum with a focus on reports and discussions on the planned activities with each of Scottsdale’s sister cities.

9:06 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Young Artists and Writers Award Presentations and Exhibit Opening.
Everyone is encouraged to attend the reception and award presentation, on Saturday, January 14, 2012 between 2:00 – 3:00 pm at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, South Hall Gallery and Stage 2, 7380 East Second Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. First, second and third place cash awards will be presented. The theme for this year’s [...]

9:05 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Alamos Trip Planned
Mayor Lane and Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp will lead a delegation to Alamos for two days of music, visits and relationship building across the border. Alamos will again host this major musical festival with nine days of performances in the city hall and on stages throughout the city. Opportunities are planned to visit the elementary school, [...]

9:05 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Scottsdale Exhibit in Haikou a Huge Success
Scottsdale’s exhibit at the China Sports Tourism EXPO in Haikou attracted many valuable contacts, introduced many Chinese to Scottsdale, and won best exhibit in the show. Twenty-one people with interests in tourism promotion, education/student exchanges, culture, economic development, and learning more about China participated in the trip. To make the trip more effective, the group [...]

9:04 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

High School Students Sent “Culture” Box to Students in Kingston
The International Club at Chaparral High School sent a box of items reflecting life as high school students in Scottsdale to the Interact Club of Fontenac Secondary (High) School in Kingston. The students in Kingston enjoyed opening and exploring the contents, especially enjoying the Pop Tarts with flavors not available in Canada. They are now [...]

9:03 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Cultural and Language Enhancements for Alamos and Scottsdale Elementary Studies
In early December students at Pueblo exchanged bi-lingual greetings over an electronic Skype connection with students from Escuela Bartolome in Alamos, Mexico. The two schools have conducted language and cultural exchanges of art, pen pal letters, and treasure boxes. Now the program has expanded to provide students with an opportunity to experience the technology of [...]

9:01 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Scottsdale High School Students Return from Interlaken
Seventeen Scottsdale Students along with three teachers spent two weeks in Interlaken. They lived with host families, attended Interlaken Gymnasium classes, visited the capital of Switzerland, and experienced the language and culture of Switzerland first hand. This is the sixth group of Scottsdale students to participate in this exchange that takes place every two years. [...]

9:01 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

New Strategic Plan Approved
With input from nearly 25% of the membership (including the board members) the SSCA Board of Directors adopted a strategic plan for 2012-2015. The original mission statement has been preserved. The programs to implement the mission have been expanded from student, educational, cultural, and economic development exchanges. In addition, citizen, government, medical, and athletic exchanges [...]

8:59 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2012
The SSCA Board of Directors extends to each of you our greetings for a very happy holiday season. There are many events planned for 2012 so you can have a very enjoyable year of sister city involvement. When you get that membership renewal notice, we hope you will do so. Be sure and join SSCA [...]

8:58 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)