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Mayor Pro Tem reports on Kosovo visit; recommends school twinning and student exchanges
Summary
Mayor Pro Tem Leon Clark reported on a recent visit to Viti (Vidi), Kosovo, said a fire engine donated by Mason in 2012 remains in use, and shared a letter from Viti’s mayor seeking expanded educational exchanges and twinning between the two cities’ schools.
Mayor Pro Tem Leon Clark reported at the Sept. 2 Mason City Council meeting that he returned from a visit to Viti (also referred to as Vidi in documents), Kosovo, and brought a letter and a gift from the municipality’s mayor expressing gratitude for the city’s long-standing partnership.
Clark said the fire engine Mason donated in 2012 “is still being used,” though it currently has a minor problem that is being repaired. He described conversations with local teachers and officials in Viti about a proposed twinning of lower secondary schools and pilot student exchanges, including supervised group chats to build English language skills and cultural exchange.
“We’d like to set it up at a time where it’ll probably, because of the time difference, it’ll probably be something like right after school, but we want to have a teacher kind of overseeing to make sure that all the conversations go in the right direction,” Clark said. He added the program would be volunteer-based and would require parental approval. Clark said he planned to raise funds to buy computers for Kosovo schools where device availability is limited.
Clark read portions of a letter from the mayor of Viti, Misoko Halidi, thanking Mason for support since a formal twinning established in 2012 and endorsing efforts to deepen cooperation, particularly in education. Clark also mentioned local connections and personal encounters during travel and offered copies of books written by a local figure who helped initiate the partnership.
Mayor Russell Whipple and other council members thanked Clark for his work as an ambassador and for maintaining the relationship. No formal council action or funding request was presented at the meeting; Clark said he will pursue school and district approval and fundraising as next steps.
The report described the twinning as ongoing and noted interest on both sides in exchanges for students and teachers; Clark emphasized the project’s volunteer basis and the need for parental consent and teacher oversight.
