As Ridgeland High School students were guided through the halls of The Howard School on Tuesday, they sampled muffins made by a culinary arts class, watched members of the Navy JROTC practice on the shooting range and heard teachers talk about their classes.
The students from Rossville were visiting as part of Howard’s Leadership Exchange program, which for the past five years has exchanged tours with other high schools as part of an effort to expose students to different walks of life. Howard has regularly hosted students from both public and private schools in Hamilton County, as well as from Nashville and Knoxville, but Tuesday marked the first time the program has crossed state borders.
“It’s critical, at the end of the day, that you are able to see things that is just not your one school,” Howard Vice Principal Charles Mitchell said in an interview. “It’s more than just Ridgeland or Howard. It’s a bigger perspective and a bigger world view, so we feel like when we give these students these meaningful opportunities, they can be better contributing members of our society and leaders of our country.”
Howard students will visit Ridgeland later this school year.
