Soccer lets students experience cultural exchange

THS and the Newcomer Center partner with the organization Soccer Without Borders to provide after school programming and a chance for students across cultures to build community. On Saturday, November 2nd, Soccer Without Borders had a tournament in Aurora. The girls team that competed in the tournament was a combination of girls from one of the Aurora programs and students from THS. The players on this combined team met each other for the first time when they walked on the field.

The sportsmanship of the entire team was INCREDIBLE. They were cheering and celebrating each other virtually every time someone touched the ball. One of our THS students played goalie for our team for the first time ever and looked like she had been playing for years. Another THS student had a different handshake with everyone, regardless of language or culture.

It was a beautiful celebration and example of what cross cultural exchange can look like in one of its purest forms. The gals played 3 games and did incredible. One more cool fact: Every single girl on Saturday's team was from a different country. That is a first for SWB. We are proud to have such an amazing community partner that provides opportunities for students to engage with each other and build relationships outside of the classroom.

Special thanks to the Thornton High School and Newcomer Center community for submitting this Five Star Story. We appreciate seeing collaboration between schools to ELEVATE student success.

This story exemplifies our ELEVATE Focus Area: Outside-the-Classroom Learning. Sharing stories about how the district offers students multiple learning opportunities outside the traditional classroom providing various pathways to success.