The small hill town of Carunchio, Italy, and mountain town of Saluda are Sister Cities.

The towns have the same population, altitude and latitude, and both have elementary schools. 

When the mayor of Carunchio, Gianfranco D’Isabella, visited Saluda in March, he brought with him letters written by all the fifth-grade students in the Carunchio school. They were written in English with perfect grammar and illustrated with colorful drawings.

When he visited Saluda Elementary, Mayor D’Isabella was treated to a reconstruction of the village of Carunchio by the kindergarten, shown a student-made video on a day in the life of a Saluda school student and was interviewed by the students of the third-grade class. 

Carrie Maneen, school principal of Saluda Elementary presented the mayor with a book of essays by the Saluda students where they described what they would do if they could take over the town and be mayor for a day.

During that meeting, D’Isabella and Maneen agreed on a series of connections that they would forge between the two schools and their students. There will be Skype video calls between teachers and students, internet pen pals, exchanges of cultural materials and books.

The Carunchio students are proficient in English by fifth grade, so Saluda’s Sister City organization will gather English language children’s books that can be sent to Carunchio. A group from Saluda and Hendersonville will visit Carunchio this fall and deliver the books.

Both schools are going to acquire information about the other country in order to help the students make a connection to the other culture. A check for $800 raised at a dinner in March honoring the visiting Carunchio mayor, his wife, and Cristina Criscio, owner of a vacation destination in Carunchio, was recently presented by Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden to Maneen.

Baisden said it is important to support the school with extra funds to enable them to do such great programs. He emphasized that the link between the students in the two schools will broaden each child’s understanding of the world and other cultures.

“The funds represent a great opportunity to connect children in these two different countries and cultures,” Maneen said.

She said she will use the funds for “maps, books and cultural materials related to Italy and Carunchio.” She even intends to have Saluda students learn a few Italian recipes as another way to sample the Italian culture.

For more information about Saluda’s Sister City program, contact Judy Thompson at 828-489-6578 email jdt@jdthompsonlaw.com.

– Submitted by Judy Thompson