City of St. Petersburg Announces Student Ambassadors for Summer Exchange
Program with Sister City Takamatsu, Japan
A 37-year tradition continues with three pairs of students swapping cities,
cultures, and families
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (May 16, 2025) – The City of St. Petersburg and its Sister
City Takamatsu, Japan, are excited to announce this year’s Takamatsu Student
Ambassadors. Continuing a tradition that started in 1988, three pairs of
students will swap cities, countries, and families, living in each other’s
homes this summer.
Rising seniors Rachel Eeten (Osceola Fundamental High School), Jared Jackson
(Lakewood High School Center for Advanced Technologies), and Jayda
Parkes-Quarrie (St. Petersburg Collegiate High School) were selected to
represent St. Petersburg in Takamatsu this summer.
This summer, students will travel from St. Pete to Takamatsu in early July,
and will attend high school for two days with their host family-sibling.
Students traveling from Takamatsu to St. Pete in early August will likewise
live with the family of the student they host. The students will spend nearly
two weeks together in Japan and nearly ten days together in St. Pete.
St. Pete’s student ambassadors will have official business in Takamatsu, each
making a presentation about St. Pete to Takamatsu Mayor Hideto nishi and City
Council. The students will visit temples and other important sites, and learn
about Japanese culture and family life. Japanese students will likewise
deliver presentations to St. Pete Mayor Kenneth T. Welch, St. Pete City
Council, and St. Pete Chamber of Commerce during their stay. They will visit
St. Pete’s museums, cultural institutions, and explore the differences and
similarities between the two cultures.
In 1961, St. Petersburg and Takamatsu were among the first pairs of cities in
Florida and Japan to form a Sister City relationship. Eckerd College has been
sending graduates to teach there since 1966; Takamatsu began sending municipal
staff to shadow counterparts in St. Pete in the 1970s. Numerous citizen
delegations, sometimes numbering over 50, have also traveled to St. Pete.
Similarly, multiple local businesses, youth delegations, softball teams,
groups and individuals have visited Takamatsu. Sending rising high school
seniors to Takamatsu has been a popular, long-running program – all high
school juniors who live in St. Petersburg are eligible to apply.
SPIFFS, the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society, manages the City
of St. Petersburg’s Sister City program, along with presenting the annual
International Folk Fair. For more information, visit
www.stpete.org/international.
