Each summer a group of Palmer middle school and high school students travel to Saroma, Japan. Each student stays with the family of a Saroma student. The paired students are about the same age.
Then, in the fall, the Saroma students come here. Usually, each stays with the family of the Palmer student that stayed with them. The visitors spend two weeks here on the sister city exchange. Palmer High Japanese teacher Carla Swick coordinates the exchange. In her words, “It’s like a full-circle thing.”
Palmer Junior Middle teacher Lizzie Parsons also coordinates the program. The exchange is close to her heart. She values the chance for students to learn about a different culture. The students build friendships across the Pacific.
Parsons has deep ties to the program. Palmer Junior Middle joined the exchange program in 2003. Parsons was a sixth grader at the school that year. She traveled to Saroma as a chaperone last year.
The Saroma students arrived two weeks ago. Palmer Junior Middle School welcomed them with an assembly. Students from both delegations were introduced. The welcomes from the Palmer students inspired Parsons.
The visiting group includes five middle school students and two high school students. A third Saroma student is at Palmer High School for the school year.
The program is more than a vacation according to Swick. People can travel almost anywhere, but exchange students go to school and live with a host family. They become part of the community and often the family. They get a real taste of school and life in Alaska.
The visitors stayed busy. They toured the Musk Ox Farm, Palmer City Hall, and the Palmer police and fire stations with their Palmer peers. They shopped downtown and ate pizza at the Palmer Alehouse. They sat in the stands for the Palmer–West Valley football game.
The group visited Sherrod and Swanson elementary schools. They took a field trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage Glacier, and Alaska Wildberry Products in Anchorage. Swick and the other organizers keep the activities hands-on for the Saroma students.
Between outings, the visitors spend their days in Palmer classrooms and with their host families. For Parsons, those ordinary days are the best part. The Saroma students live with host families and follow the schedule of a typical Palmer student.
The visit finished yesterday with a farewell potluck at Palmer Junior Middle School. Then the Saroma students headed to the airport for the trip home.
Palmer students can apply in October for the 2027 Saroma exchange. Applicants write an essay and sit for an interview. The delegation is usually chosen in mid-October.
The exchange program is part of the Palmer-Saroma Sister Cities relationship. Palmer and Saroma have been sister cities for more than four decades.
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This report by Emily Forstner is based on reporting by Jeremiah Bartz. He is the Community Relations Coordinator for the Mat-Su Borough School District. Yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it.
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That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Friday, September 25, 2026.
Image credit: Mat-Su Borough School District