Dayton to welcome students from Bosnia this fall
City will host 18 students, 3 teachers for Leader Academy.
Students and DAYTON — teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina will be welcomed to the city of Dayton this October as part of a youth leadership exchange.
The 18 students and three teachers will get to experience the best Dayton has to offer in areas such as education, culture and person-to-person exchanges, according to a release.
This program is part of the “Four Cities Young Leader Academy” that brings the Dayton Mediation Center, the Dayton Sister City Committee and multiple partner organizations in Dayton and Bosnia and Herzegovina together.
“This program offers an exciting opportunity to strengthen existing ties with our sister city, Sarajevo, and the cities of Mostar and Banja Luka,” said Dayton Commissioner Matt Joseph. “These experiences help equip young leaders to be change makers when they return home.”
Dayton Mediation Center received a $120,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo through the State Department’s Youth Leadership and Teacher Professional Development Program.
“The city of Dayton is honored to have been selected to develop this program, and we’re grateful for the leadership of our local partners who have stepped up to help us ensure that these students have a truly meaningful experience,” Joseph said.
Arch Grieve is the leader of the project. He is the chair of the Dayton Sister City Committee and a Mediation Center staff member.
“We are utilizing a project-based learning approach in the design of this exchange,” Grieve said. “The goal is to help the students answer the driving question, ‘How do we enact change in a democracy?’”
Multiple local organizations have committed to participate in this exchange including local schools, political organizations and associations.
The students and teachers will participate in stages geared toward learning about American democracy and will learn to use the ideas to help make changes in their cities.
Families are needed to host students and teachers coming to Dayton. If an individual or family wants more information, visit daytonsistercitycommittee.org/ homestay. Applicants are required to file by March 31. An allowance will be provided to the hosts.
The Dayton Sister City Committee was created by the Dayton City Commission in 1964. It is part of the Sister Cities International that was create by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.