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New Northview Student Traveled 7,000 Miles This Weekend To Attend School This Morning
August 18, 2008
There is a new sophomore at Northview High School this morning, and she traveled about 7,000 miles this weekend to get there.
Her name is Seira Kosakai, 15, and she is an exchange student from Tokyo, Japan. She arrived in the United States Saturday night. She’ll be spending her tenth grade year at Northview while living with her host sister Mallory Bell, the daughter of Alan and and Gail Bell. Mallory is also in the tenth grade at Northview.
Seira is fluent in English. She enjoys music, especially guitar and piano; cheerleading; Disney movies; animals and studying the English language. And, like most 15 year olds, she likes shopping. She hopes to one day become a “music star”.
Alan said Mallory’s arrival at the Mobile airport Saturday night was preceding by an amazing sequence of events.
He said not only was daughter Mallory reading the newspaper just a few short weeks ago, an unusual event for her, she was reading the classifieds. It was there that she saw an ad looking for host families for exchange students.
“Gail and I were very apprehensive about this, and considered it to be a passing interest that Mallory wasn’t really committed to being a ‘host sister’,” Alan said. But Mallory did all of the research and registered the family only as a host family. The American Intercultural Student Exchange organization called the Bells on August 2 to begin the process of getting an exchange student to the Bells in the United States.
Seira will become part of the Bell family for the next 10 months, through June of next year. The exchange program expects host families to treat the exchange students as family, even so far as to call each other host mom, host dad, etc. In the AISE exchange program, the host family provides room and board for the student, while the student’s family provides money for clothing, souvenirs, health insurance, etc.
After the August 2 phone conversation, Mallory went to the AISE website at aise.com and found four girls with similar interests. At the website, the Bells could see each student’s school transcripts, pictures and personal interests. All that led the family to choose Seira.
While in the U.S. under the AISE program, Seira will visit area middle and elementary schools to share her culture with other students in the area. She will also attend the First Baptist Church of Bratt with Mallory and the rest of the Bell family.
During the school year, NorthEscambia.com will check in with Seira and the Bell family and keep you updated on Seira’s life in America and school in Bratt.
Pictured above: Mom Gail Bell, Seira Kosakai, Mallory Bell and Alan Bell at home. Pictured below: Mallory Bell, family friend Bailee Deese, Seira Kosakai, Alan Bell and Gail Bell at the Mobile Airport Saturday night. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
9 Responses to “New Northview Student Traveled 7,000 Miles This Weekend To Attend School This Morning”
Comments on this article have been closed. The comments (many of which are not posted here) turned into personal/slanderous attacks in violation of the rules posted at the bottom of the page.
We do realize that Alabama children attending school in Florida is a major issue. There will be a story explaining the rules for children crossing the state line posted in the next week or so. If you would like to be interviewed for that story, email news@northescambia.com
William
Listen, NO NAME- if you have a problem with Alabama kids in our schools, then take it up with the school board. They are the ones that have APPROVED both Mallory Bell and Seira to attend Northview. Please stop abusing this website to vent your personal, and might I add, petty grievances against the Bell family. Your negativity isn’t wanted here, nor is it beneficial to any who read it. If you have an issue with someone, the Bible instructs you to go and speak privately to the person, not gossip and talk maliciously about them to others.
The ignorance by some on this forum is mindboggling and one only hopes that young Siera will not see this. You are falsely accusing a man and his family of serious charges while cowering behind the anonymity of this website. I wonder if your deception would be so bravely broadcast if your true name were published? What would your reaction be if some “stranger” started spreading lies about your spouse and children?
Maybe we need a story written about students who cross the state line to attend other schools. Many of you incorrectly assume that there is underhandedness involved when there is not. Escambia County FL has a particular number of Alabama students that are APPROVED to attend schools in FL. There are several reasons for this, and having a parent working in a FL school is NOT the only reason.
In a similar case, my kids played baseball in Molino last year even though we live in Bratt. Now before you get out the pitchforks, we got APPROVAL to do so. And our reason? Molino offered a program better suited to our kids than our local ballpark. We asked, they approved. We did not lie, we simply followed the rules.
These girls are at Northview legally and truthfully, and by accounts from staff whom I know at Northview, they are glad to have them.
In response to Cyndi-public facilities in other towns have no bearing on the rules governing a school district. Those rules are in place for a reason. We are overcrowded in our schools and Atmore has its own set of schools. If the people in Atmore don’t like their schools then they need to do the law-abiding thing and move to Florida. They are only teaching their children that lying is okay, as long as you get what you want. Keep in mind, Atmore citizens also travel to OUR county (Pensacola) to go shopping and to use public buildings. I’m quite sure they are treated no differently.
Yeah, the school admin. are the ones letting everyone from Atmore come and take positions on sport teams, honors classes, where there is not enough room due to overcrowding from their kids.
I’m wondering why comments are being made about the Bell’s residence instead of being made to welcome this girl who has traveled 7,000 miles to our rural community to attend school. I would like to say welcome to Northview, Seira! And to Mallory, I think this will be an awesome experience for you.
I would also like to add that I have a daughter at Northview and a son at Bratt. We live in Florida and we pay those property taxes, but sometimes when my children have research reports due, we travel to the Atmore Public Library. We have also been known to use the Atmore City Park on many occasions. I am so glad that they are not rude to us and make us feel unwelcome!
I know Mallory.I go to school with her.Thats really good that they are doing this. Congrats
Congratulations, Alan, Gail, and Mallory!!
It is great that families like the Bells are offering exchange students the opportunity to go to school here and learn about our culture by opening their homes to them and treating the students like their own. I hope we also have a chance to learn something about the Japanese culture as we interact with Seira. What an excellent chance to broaden horizons and spread the Gospel without having to even go out of our own community!
Thanks for the great article!
Welcome to the USA, Seira. Hope your year here is great !!!