“Even though we are all so different, we found that we have one important thing in common – we are all working to help children,” said Mary Anderson, Boys Town High School Assistant Principle. “Our kids all share the same struggles, needs and goals, regardless of where they live or what language they speak.”

One Boys Town youth helped make the visit an even greater success by discovering what he had in common with the group – language. Stephon, a relatively new Boys Town student, speaks Russian and spent part of the afternoon showing the guests one of the homes on campus and answering their questions about his program in their native language.

“There really couldn’t have been a better way for the teachers to learn about Boys Town than from one of our youth directly,” said Anderson. “Not only did Stephon explain the skills taught here, he also demonstrated them by presenting himself in a respectful and courteous way while participating in conversation with our guests.”

In addition to meeting Stephon and touring one of the residential homes, the teachers toured Home Campus, participated in classroom observations and learned about diversity within the organization. Anderson noted that the visitors were surprised by Boys Town’s openness to all religions.

“The teachers seemed very impressed to find that not only were different religions accepted here at Boys Town, but that faith was encouraged within the program,” said Anderson. “I explained Father Flanagan’s vision for providing hope and healing to ‘all races, all colors, all creeds’ and they left with a new understanding of Boys Town’s mission.”