Modesto Sister Cities holding information meeting

Seeking youth ambassadors, Modesto Sister Cities International is having a meeting tonight on its spring break Ukraine trip in April. It also is accepting applications for summer trips to Japan and France.

Eighth- and ninth-graders will visit Modesto's sister city in Ukraine during spring break, April 6-14. Because of the success of a visit to Modesto last year by students from Khmelnitsky and their attendance in classes at La Loma Junior High School, Modesto has been invited to organize a return visit.

The estimated cost per student is $1,300 for air fare and $400 for insurance and spending money.

Students must have passports and medical travel insurance. An informational meeting will be held tonight at 7 at La Loma Junior High, 1800 Encina Ave., Room 14.

Applications also are being taken for Modesto Sister Cities International's annual summer student exchanges to Kurume, Japan, and Laval, France.

The MSCI Japan Committee will select 10 high school students to take part in a 10-day exchange to Kurume from late July through early August. Kurume students will then arrive in Modesto in mid-August for 10 days. Modesto-area students who will be sophomores, juniors or seniors in the fall may apply. Students who are accepted on the exchange are required to host a Japanese student in return.

The MSCI France Committee will select up to four high school or college students to take part in the exchange to Laval from the last two weeks of June to first week of July, and French students will be here the second week of July through the first week of August.

Cost of the programs, including air fare, is estimated at $1,300. For more information or an application, call Nancy Holmes, (209) 765-9290, for Japan, or Adrian Harrell, (209) 535-1590, for France, or go to www.modestosistercities.org. The priority deadline for applications is April 1.