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Medford–Alba sister-city committee reports student exchanges, 65-year relationship
Summary
The Medford Alba Sister City Association reported a continuing high-school exchange program, recent visits by Italian students in September, pen-pal classroom activities and plans for delegation attendance at Alba’s white truffle festival in October.
Stacy Stover, student exchange coordinator for the Medford Alba Sister City Association, gave the council a semiannual update Feb. 5 on the city’s long-standing sister-city relationship with Alba, Italy.
Stover reviewed the partnership’s history and activities dating to a 1960 city resolution that formally recognized Alba as a sister city. She said the association has organized intergenerational exchange opportunities across business, civic and student groups and that the high-school student exchange program has run in alternate years since 1985. In September 2024, 17 students from Alba and two chaperones spent two weeks in Medford with host families; activities included Crater Lake, a Rogue River rafting trip, school events and a short presentation to the council.
Stover said Medford’s students will visit Alba in spring 2025 under the same exchange program. The student ambassadors are fundraising — including a large auction on Feb. 22 — to support the trip. Stover also described a pen-pal program connecting local elementary and middle schools with Alba students; Jacksonville Elementary is participating in the current year. She invited mayor and council members to consider a delegation trip to Alba’s October white truffle festival, noting the festival hosts sister-city delegations.
The presentation included a request that staff or council follow up with scheduling for potential delegation travel and continued outreach to promote the exchange program.
Ending: The council thanked the association for the update and the group said it will provide a further update in August and more details about outreach events and the student auction.
