Clarion-Goldfield-Dows FFA students, along with advisor Angie Charlson and superintendent Joe Nelson, are gearing up for an educational trip to Kosovo in March.
Clarion has a sister-city relationship with Junik, Kosovo which was established in 2022. The agreement aims to foster regular exchanges of students and citizens with a focus of providing opportunities for students and businesses in both Clarion and Junik. C-G-D Superintendent, Joe Nelson, has visited the country a few times during his tenure and tells RadioOnTheGo News he is excited for the opportunity that awaits his students.
“We just have an amazing FFA program and you know, with our partnership that we’ve developed in Kosovo with our local sister city over there, it just seems like the perfect match. You know, taking eight kids that want to pursue a career and a future in ag, and a really talented FFA teacher, you know, we started having conversations like, hey, this just seems like a match. You know, why don’t we try to find a way to take these students to Kosovo during spring break and let them study agriculture in Eastern Europe and in the process, you know, make some connections and partnerships with our sister city and our sister city school. We’re really excited about, you know, the opportunity in front of us.”
Nelson says students will visit different places around the country and will get to learn how agriculture works in a developing country.
“I can’t imagine being a 17-year-old kid and having a chance to fly across the world and truly study agriculture in another country. Kosovo is a second-world country and they’re trying to find ways to efficiently feed their population and we’ll learn from them and they’ll learn from us. But boy, you talk about a spring break opportunity for a bunch of high school kids and you know, we’ve made three trips over there and this one I would say by far is the most unique and has the most learning potential for our kids. You know, they keep asking me about it, but I remind our kids and our teachers that when you get over there, it’s going to be even more beautiful and more impressive when you see it with your own eyes.”
Separated by more than 5,000 miles, Iowa and Kosovo have had a sister-state relationship since 2013.
Photo taken in April when Clarion-Goldfield-Dows hosted two leading members of the Consulate of the Republic of Kosovo in Des Moines. Pictured are (left to right); superintendent Joe Nelson (seated), Drilon Zogaj, member of the Consulate of the Republic of Kosovo in Des Moines, Clarion Mayor Rodney Heiden and Fatmir Rrahmanaj, another member of the Consulate of the Republic of Kosovo in Des Moines
