2022 student exchange still up in the air

LAURINBURG — Decisions will soon need to be made on both sides of the Atlantic concerning the possibility of resurrecting the Laurinburg/Oban, Scotland student exchange. On Tuesday, Murray Hamilton from Oban spoke with the Laurinburg Rotary Club about that possibility.

“I’ve missed chatting with our North Carolina friends and hearing that accent,” Hamilton said. “There have been so many challenges for us, just as there have been for you there.”

He went on to say, however, that things are looking like restrictions will be getting loosened.

“We’re getting more announcements on relaxations of those restrictions,” Hamilton explained. :”It’s possible that, a month from now, we may not be wearing masks — which will be a real change.”

He told the Rotarians that the Oban community has handled the pandemic restrictions “really well,” adding that its residents have taken it very seriously and stuck to the rules.

He also described what things were like during the last two years, saying there has been a lack of travel from one county to another. But he said there have been very few COVID-related deaths and only a few businesses that have closed.

“As far as our students, there have been restricted in many ways with classes and athletics — but they have responded well,” Hamilton said. “Now, the sports clubs are really bouncing back.”

The Exchange

According to Hamilton and Kelly Ficklin, the Laurinburg representative for the Laurinburg/Oban student exchange, the 12 students and alternates have recently been selected on both sides of the Atlantic, and both sides are hopeful the exchange program will start back this summer.

“It’s all on the up,” Hamilton said. “So we are looking forward to being able to do this.”

Ficklin said the local group ix expected to begin monthly meetings in February and hope to do a beach trip or other outdoor event in order to build “a family” before the Scotland trip takes place.

She added that one of the most important rules to be emphasized is that all family members must be vaccinated.

Both Hamilton and Ficklin said the dates for the student exchanges will have Scotland County students and chaperones leaving here on June 7 or 8 and returning home June 23 or 24; the Oban students will be leaving there Oct. 5 and returning home Oct. 20.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or [email protected].