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Laura Pescatori, a junior at Azle High School, is not certain why anyone would be interested in writing a story about her.
At first glance, she’s a shy and naturally pretty young lady. She’s wearing the virtual “uniform” of American teenagers, distressed jeans, t-shirt and hoodie jacket.
However, Laura speaks her native Italian as well as French and English. She also reads and writes Latin. And she doesn’t understand why everyone else doesn’t do the same. Laura is one of two foreign exchange students in Azle High School this year. School officials say the school has averaged about two students a year for several years now.
Three such students began the school year in Azle, but one had to return home early, which also happened during the previous school year, according to the head counselor at the high school, Heather Huffaker. Laura is hosted by Parker County residents Shawn and Mark Wood, who live near Veal Station Road southwest of Azle. Her attendance at Azle High School was arranged by the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI). Laura’s Italian family paid for her travel to Texas and for tuition to Azle school district. Foreign student exchange goes back at least to the early 1950s, when Youth for Understanding was established. YFU once had an office in Azle and a previous member of the Board of Trustees, Evelyn O’Neil, worked for the organization. Laura, who came here through Center for Cultural Exchange, finds Texas is “exactly opposite” to her home in Italy. Milano, Italy – Laura’s hometown – is a large metropolitan area with about as many residents as the Metroplex. But Laura could walk everywhere she wanted to go, including to school every day. In Azle, she rides a bus several miles west on Veal Station Road to get home. Laura’s hometown is a European center of fashion and design. Azle really is not. Milan is many centuries old, and Azle is comparatively new. Here in Azle, as a stagehand with the school’s drama department, she is learning “man jobs,” Laura jokes, because she is learning how to use a drill to build scene sets. Students in Italy stay in the same classroom all day, and the teachers move between classes. Her Texas classes seem easier – the ability to speak several languages is not unusual among her peers in Italy – and students have an easier-going, more friendly relationship with the teachers here in Texas than they do back home, Laura said. “I’m the number 21 in Italy,” she said. The students go by a number in school, rather than their given names. Laura enjoys her classes at Azle, although “everything is easier” than her studies back home. “Everybody thinks I am a genius,” she said. Laura is also on the high school soccer team, and she likes it although she says she is not very skilled at it. The Woods moved to their Parker County home about three years ago. They have hosted three other foreign students for a school year in the States, as well as hosting students for shorter periods of time. One French student stayed for a summer, Shawn said. “We’re empty-nesters,” she said. The couple have two grown children but have enjoyed hosting students so much they are considering becoming foster parents, she said. The couple, who met while Mark was stationed at Fort Hood, lived most of their lives in other states, but always wanted to return to Texas. They are quick to praise life in the Azle area. “I took clothes to a cleaner on Main Street,” Mark said to explain why. “They only take checks or cash,” he said with a chuckle. “I only had a credit card. But the guy said, ‘Just bring it in next time you’re in town.’ So I did.” “Several things like that have happened,” Shawn said. “We absolutely love Azle.” |
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