This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly

Thanks to video conferencing, even students as young as kindergarten can participate in Harker’s successful global education program.

Long before the much-anticipated exchange program with the Tamagawa Gakuen School in Japan that occurs in grade 6, Harker’s youngest students begin building relationships with their overseas pals in Tokyo.

In January and February, the lower school’s four kindergarten homerooms held a series of video chats with same-age children from Tamagawa, Harker’s sister school. The video chats, which ran for 30 minutes, afforded both Harker and Tamagawa youngsters the unique opportunity to interact with, learn from and entertain one another, as well as set the stage for an ongoing relationship that will develop all the way through high school.