Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sister Cities International Day

At the June 21, 2016 City Council meeting, Mayor Hill and the City Council proclaimed July 15, 2016 as Sister Cities International Day. Sister Cities International Day will commemorate 60 years since the organization was founded as a Presidential initiative by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

The organization now spans over 550 U.S. member cities, counties and states with relationships with over 2,100 communities in 145 countries, spanning 6 continents. The organization began with a mission to create more community-led global relationships so that people of different cultures could appreciate their differences and build partnerships that would lessen the chance of new national conflicts. It is our goal to celebrate sister cities and the impact they make on the world on this day.

The City of Southlake is proud to be a driving part of this global network with sister city partnerships spanning the globe in Tome, Japan and Suzhou Wuzhong, China. This year, the City of Southlake is celebrating 25 years of friendship with Tome, Japan (formerly Toyoma). The mission of Southlake Sister Cities mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation; one individual, one community at a time.

The City of Southlake is joining hundreds of cities around the globe and thousands of people around the world in celebrating this day to mark this major milestone for world peace.

To learn more about the Southlake Sister Cities program and view upcoming events, please visit www.southlakesistercities.org

Southlake Sister Cities Accepting Travel Applications

Southlake Sisters Cities organization is part of the Sister Cities International offering several programs which include Youth Embassador Program. Youth Embassador Program offers students opportunities to get involved in the community and sister city communities.

In the past SSC has offered annual trips to sister city Tome, Japan to Southlake students. The students traveled to amazing locations and learned the local culture and people. They experienced every life in a home-stay environment. Many students enjoyed the experience they made more than on trip.

Adding to SSC’s annual trip to Tome, will be to Suzhou, China. Suzhou is SSC’s new sister city which was established in 2010. SSC offers a wonderful experience and exciting way to learn about China. Aside from visiting ancient and exotic locations in China, our students will  experience the everyday life of Chinese people, their food, and practice language skills.The trip is a week long starting Friday, Mar. 8- 15, 2013. Applications are being accepted through Saturday, December 16. Chaperones will be determined by SSC, City of Southlake and/or Carroll ISD. Visit http://www.southlakesistercities.org/ to apply.