High School Trio Ambassadors for Sister City Trip

As three Anaheim students prepare to head off to Mito, Japan, this summer, their excitement comes from more than the foreign adventures that await them.

The Gilbert-East High School students are just as eager to bring their continuation high school some pride.

“People always say people at Gilbert are losers, and I really wanted to prove them wrong,” said Cathy Bono, 17, one of the students who will visit Mito for two weeks in July. “I wanted to show them that kids from Gilbert are good, if not better than other students.”

The Anaheim Sister Cities Committee chose the students from 10 nominees based on interviews, recommendations and proposals for projects that will compare American and Japanese cultures. Mito is Anaheim’s sister city.

For 20 years, the committee has sent one to three students to Mito as part of an exchange program, said president Paul Bostwick. About 20 Mito students also spend two weeks in Anaheim during the summer.

The program gives students a better appreciation of other cultures, Bostwick said. Students stay with host families, meet Mito’s civic leaders and students, and do a lot of sightseeing.

This is the first time all the students have been from Gilbert-East, Bostwick said.

“It is surprising,” he said. “But the students we saw from Gilbert, they’re just trying harder and working harder to get ahead in life and school. It’s not been an easy thing for them.”

The students also credit their teachers and school staff.

“It does a lot for the school and the school’s image, which over the years has been put down,” said Matthew Stevens, 18. “It also says a lot about the teachers and administrators who pushed us.”

But the students also anticipate an unforgettable trip.

“I’ve never been anywhere,” Bono said. “I’ve stayed in Orange County all my life, and I’m very curious about what the rest of the world is like.”

Erik Miller, 18, said he’s ready for anything.

“I know how to eat with chopsticks, so I’m ready,” said Miller, who also hopes to do some surfing while he’s there.