Out of the many clubs here at Carlsbad High, one very diverse organization is Sister Cities International. Sister Cities is a form of legal and social agreement between sister towns, cities or countries. The club was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, and now CHS’s branch is run by president Kara Dolan, publicity coordinator Gretchen Miller and secretary Erika Anderson, and founded by Andrea Betta. Next year, Erin Traber will take over as president.

“Sister Cities is a club in which we try to educate the elementary schools and the youth of Carlsbad about sister cities,” junior Courtney Brandt said. “I really like the whole aspect of it because when I go to the meetings, it’s really cool to see how there was so much involvement with foreign cities not a lot of people know about in Carlsbad. I enjoy going to the events because its fun interacting with people from the community that you normally wouldn’t talk to.”

When most clubs study the culture and habits of one country, the Sister Cities club immerses itself within the country.

“I really enjoy traveling, that’s why sister cities caught my eye,” junior Thomas Peterschmidt said. “The experience of meeting new people, especially kids our age in Europe, seems cool. It would be interesting to mingle with people from out of the country.”

Mr. Hendricks is the social science teacher who is in charge of Sister Cities. The Sister Cities junior ambassadors meet at Carlsbad City Hall and do an exchange and plan events around Carlsbad to educate the public on sister cities. The club’s goal is to promote culture through travel and experience. In the beginning of July, Sister Cities is traveling to the Karlovy Vary, one of Carlsbad’s sister cities, in the Czech Republic.

“Six students are actually traveling abroad and going to Karlovy Vary,” senior Gretchen Miller said. “You have such a bubble when you live in Carlsbad so it’s cool to get out of that bubble and expand your comfort zone.”