Students from El Pilar in Madrid made their annual visit to the Massachusetts State House last week and met with State Representative Paul Donato and aide, Jack Ryan, father of modern languages faculty member Jim Ryan. These fourteen students from Spain are here as part of the Spanish Exchange, one of Milton’s oldest off-campus programs.
First initiated at Milton Academy in 1979, the Spanish Exchange is a school-to-school program that runs jointly with Colegio El Pilar, a private school in Madrid. Milton students travel with two faculty members to Spain at the beginning of June and welcome the Spanish group to Milton Academy in September. Students have the opportunity to visit historical and cultural sites, participate in the daily activities of their counterparts, and improve their foreign language skills. Milton students who traveled to Madrid this past June were fortunate to be a part of El Pilar’s centennial celebration.
“This year’s group is one of the nicest ever,” says Jim Ryan, director of the Spanish Exchange program. “Many of the students have made lifelong friends.”
