WEST SPRINGFIELD – Visiting the U.S. “has been my dream since I was little,” said Giovanni Tanzi, before the West Springfield School Committee on Sept. 13. Tanzi is one of eight students vising the town from West Springfield’s sister region of Valdarno, Italy, in a long-delayed start to their foreign exchange program.

The visit is two and a half years in the making. Valdarno educator Marco Prina first got the wheels moving on the program when he and a colleague came to the United States in February 2020, just before the start of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Like almost everything else during that time, the exchange program went digital, with Italian language students from West Springfield High School corresponding and even completing group projects over Zoom with the Valdarno students, who were studying English.

“The COVID[-19] crisis had an unprecedented impact on our lives, on our educational system, and we learned a lot from it. Including and especially that social relationships and a sense of community are important,” said Lisa Barberi, principal of the high school at Valdarno.

Both educators are here in West Springfield with their students for a two-week visit. The students have been attending regular classes with West Springfield students and are being put up in the homes of teachers from the school who volunteered.

“We are also looking forward to reciprocating. We’ve already started to plan, together with our administrators, teachers and staff, your visit in Italy, hopefully in the spring,” said Barberi.

West Springfield Superintendent Vito Perrone said the timing of local teens’ visit to Italy would depend on how soon it can be organized and approved by the School Committee. Town and school officials have said they want to see an ongoing two-way exchange of student visits.

“It always starts with the kids. That’s what grows and perpetuates it,” said City Council President Edward Sullivan. Sullivan, who is also president of the West Springfield Sister City Organization, said he hopes to expand the programs reach both culturally and economically.

Sullivan hopes to establish commercial ties between West Springfield and Valdarno, similar to the work that has already been done with the town’s sister region in Ireland, the Dingle Peninsula. Representatives from Dingle are in town this month to promote products and tourism in their region at the Big E.

The partnerships could prove fruitful for West Springfield, too. According to a State Department study from 2020, “exchange programs have resulted in the forging of business relationships between program participants and Americans alike, the expansion of influence of American businesses abroad, and the development of the necessary skills for these businesses to succeed in the international economy.”

“It is about our global nature to the world. We are part of something bigger, and you are helping to connect all of us to that, and we to you, with that,” said School Committee member Diana Coyne.

For most of the students, it is their first time stateside. But it may not be their last. Marlin Ferko said he hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and focus his studies on environmental science and green energy.

As for the students, they all say they’re enjoying their time here, and immersing themselves in the culture of an American town. Tacos, maple syrup and fast food were among the more notable culinary experiences the Italians reported, in a round table discussion with Reminder Publishing “So much sugar,” said Teresa Grifoni.