The Tuscaloosa Sister Cities Commission sponsors student exchanges with Narashino, Japan and Schorndorf, Germany on alternating years. Tuscaloosa students visited Narashino in 2002 and 2004.

A Tuscaloosa student delegation visited Schorndorf, Germany in 2003. Student groups from Bryant High School and Max Planck Gymnasium in Schorndorf, Germany arrange to visit each other at regular intervals.

2003 Schorndorf Students at Bryant High School

The heart of the exchange program is the integration of students into the everyday life of their host families and into classroom and community activities. As a rule, the visits last from two to three weeks. As members of the host families, students experience the everyday life and culture of the partner country, not from the outside as tourists, but from the inside as members of the family.

Students must pay a portion of their air travel. Participation in the exchange is open to students in the 10^th and 11^th Grades in the Tuscaloosa City School system. The students must meet the required grade point average and have demonstrated strengths in leadership and team efforts.

Students from Narashino and Schorndorf visit Tuscaloosa every year. Schorndorf students attend high school classes in Tuscaloosa City Schools. Narashino students attend the English Language Institute at the University of Alabama.

Community Delegations are made up of adults selected to represent Tuscaloosa on visits to Schorndorf and Narashino. Community Delegates are responsible for their transportation and incidental costs during their international visits. Delegates travel as a group and stay with host families during their stay.

In September, 2003 a group of interested community citizens from Tuscaloosa visited Schorndorf.

The Tuscaloosa Sister Cities Delegation at the Atlanta Airport prepare to depart for Schorndorf, Germany in September, 2003.

A group from Schorndorf visited Tuscaloosa in August, 2004.