Some Scott Creek middle school students took a break from their summer vacation Tuesday to welcome 30 Chinese students to their school.

The local students were part of a School District 43 delegation celebrating the signing of a sister school agreement with Guangzhou Jiangnan middle school. The agreement means students from Scott Creek and Jiangnan will be encouraged to learn about one another's cultures and even communicate via email.

Approximately 50 Scott Creek students will be invited to communicate online when school resumes in the fall, said principal Judy Robb.

"I think we'll start small, 30 to 50, and those who really want to do it [will be able to volunteer]," said Robb, who said the sister school relationship will help widen the horizons of Scott Creek students, which is important in the new global village.

"I think when you look around the Tri-Cities, we have people from all over the world who go to school here, and I think that's really important that we understand the cultures of one another — in this case China but it could be anywhere — and that we take it upon ourselves to learn about them," Robb said.

The Scott Creek students served cake and chatted with their Chinese counterparts, who are in town for an intensive ESL course. School District 43's international education department is providing the ESL training as well as acting as tour guide for the students.

Approximately 700 international students typically enrol in summer programs in the Tri-Cities and another 1,200 usually register in SD43 schools in the fall, generating $15 million in revenue and $7 million to the district's annual operating budget.

SD43 has a number of sister school relationships. In 2008, Vladivostok University middle school became a sister school and students from the Russian city spent two weeks at local elementary, middle and secondary schools.

In addition to funding teachers in local schools and contributing to the district's bottom line, international education also provides grants to schools for multicultural programs.

Still, SD43 is being conservative in its estimate of revenues from international education this year in case enrolment drops slightly because of the global economic downturn.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com