Students from Brazil, China, Italy graduate with Scecina’s Class of 2021
Tomasso Iachelini of Italy (left) at the Class of 2021 Commencement with Scecina classmate Matthew Keen.
By John Hegarty, Director of International Programs
The 2020-21 school experience for Scecina’s 12 international students was different for each one. Several were never able to return to Scecina during the school year and completed their classes online. A few students were able to return at least for a while. And some were able to fulfill their dream of studying at an American high school.
Scecina’s international students came from Brazil, China, Italy, Jordan, and Nigeria. Three graduated from Scecina in May: Lorenzo Bender, Tommaso Iachelini, and Jimiao Zhang.
Lorenzo came to Scecina as a sophomore and was having the greatest experience of his life. He was excelling and deeply involved at Scecina when, in March 2020, he had to return to Brazil because of Covid-19. He was never able to return to Scecina as an in-person student. Lorenzo has decided to continue his education at a Brazilian university.
As the pandemic started, Jimiao Zhang first moved to Florida to live with family and complete classes online. In October 2020 he returned to Indianapolis but continued classes online. In December Jimiao returned to China and completed his high school career online from his home. He will attend the University of Wisconsin.
Tomasso Iachelini, on the other hand, moved to Indianapolis from Italy early in the 2020-2021 school year to join us as a full-time in-person student. He graduated from Scecina in May, taking part in the ceremonies.
Two other short-stay Italian students, Nino and Anna, are returning to a fifth year of high school in Italy.
We hope to double the number of international students for 2020-21. We receive new applications weekly and need families who are willing to host.
Be a host family!
Would you like the experience of hosting an international student? The host can be a Scecina family or not, have children in the home or not, be single or married. Please let Director of International Programs Mr. Hegarty know if you have any interest or questions. jhegarty@scecina.org or 317-258-5159.
