Eight young Finns visit Blooming Prairie

At a very young age, maybe 17, some youths are dreaming of a trip to a foreign country.

Those dreams have come true for eight young Finnish students, who found themselves on a Magic Carpet ride to Blooming Prairie. These young people are part of an adventurous education project.

This pilot program is designed to provide experiences of a lifetime for eight students from Finland and eight from Blooming Prairie.

Two enterprising young educators from Finland decided to build their own student exchange program patterned after similar education programs adopted in other European countries. The intuitive idea came to the mind of a student who spent the 1989-90 school year as an exchange student in Blooming Prairie.

Please step forward, Aki (pronounced “ah-kee”) Kontturi. He stayed at the home of Burton and Ardis Knutson and attended Blooming Prairie High. The Knutsons had no children, thus Aki became their adopted teenager. Ardis passed on Nov. 10, 2022, and Burton passed on Feb. 17, 2023, but they left an educational legacy.

Blooming Prairie High School has always had many families who were active in various student exchange programs. Aki has kept the link alive, because even though the Knutsons are gone, the memories they created are still with him. Aki returned to Blooming Prairie for Ardis’ memorial service in 2022.

Aki and his fellow teaching friend from Finland, Walter (Valter) Simila, contacted the Minister of Education in Finland and the United States Embassy in Finland regarding their idea to provide a trans-Atlantic education program for high school students in Finland and Minnesota.

Aki and Walter sought grant support for the program, which would allow participating high school students to learn more about each other’s culture and language.

“We needed a partner in the United States,” said Aki.

The light bulb went on, and Aki thought a good way to find a U.S. partner would be to contact the Blooming Prairie school administration.

Aki met with Blooming Prairie High School Principal John Worke and explained his proposal. High school counselor Mary Worke also became involved in implementing the program.

After receiving a commitment from Principal Worke, Aki and Walter applied directly to the Minister of Education in Finland for funding to send five students. If granted, the funding would cover such costs as airline tickets, hotel accommodations, and auto rental.

Aki said students are paying some of the costs, too.

“We do some fundraising to get a little extra to help us get more students in the program,” he explained.

When more funding came in, the program grew to support eight students, four girls and four boys. The plan was then to send the eight Finnish students to Blooming Prairie, the beginning of a pilot program.

“We are hoping this pilot program will continue,” said Walter. “We are hoping to compare educational objectives of both countries.”

The U.S. counts on sports programs to involve its students. Students in Finland reportedly face more expenses and utilize funds from clubs.

“Parents come to games of the Finland kids, and it’s more like a community,” said Aki. “Schools bring communities together in both Finland and the U.S.”

Credit must be given to teachers and staffs in Finland and Blooming Prairie, Aki and Walter agreed. They visited some Blooming Prairie classrooms at the high school during the week they were here.

Finnish students in grades 10-12 went to classes all week with their host families’ kids.

“We could see a difference in the teaching approach between the countries,” said Walter. “American lessons are shorter.”

Finland has three periods, with each having 75 minutes. Finland has grades 1-6 in elementary school and grades 7-9 in junior high. Vocational studies come next, at the college prep level.

Blooming Prairie voters approved a $34.5 million bond issue last fall to allow the Blooming Prairie school district to improve its educational programs. Blooming Prairie has moved fifth and sixth grade students to the high school from the elementary school.

Walter teaches physical education and health science. Aki teaches math, physics, and business.

Aki and Walter work in the same school, which has allowed them to plan their exciting exploratory program. Walter calls Aki “the master mind” of the project. Aki throws praise toward Mr. Worke.

“Mr. Worke seems to be a good guy,” Aki says with conviction.

Benefits are many, the leaders of the cooperative program believe.

“We are able to see how others live in the U.S., and Blooming Prairie kids can see how our culture is shaped,” said Aki.

“We hope the American kids can come to Finland,” he said. “It is an experience of life that the kids will get on both ends. Our goal is to have the students, both from Finland and the U.S., to bond together.”

The group arrived in Blooming Prairie during the school’s Homecoming week.

Two Finnish girls ran a 5k race with two BP girls.

“We found out how school activities affect one’s wellbeing,” said Aki.  “We can cheer our team while finding out that sports is about feelings.”

Counselor Mary Worke has these observations about the cooperative program:

“We were impressed with the overall program that Aki and Walter started this year with Finnish students traveling to America and exploring the culture and over all well-being of USA people. The benefits they will receive are the knowledge they gained in their time in the USA. I believe they will have learned what parts of America are impressive and what parts of Finland are better.”

Here’s a list of the hosts and their Finnish students:

• Ella Smith and family - Lotta
• Maveda Warner and family -Mina
• Rachel Wiznebur and family - Assi
• Annaka Forsburg and family - Ana
• Alex Lee and family - Iluri
• Brady Kittelson and Cannon Wacek and family - Olive
• Eliot Gimbel and family - Akko
• Tyler Anderson and family - Eeti

The Finnish students and educators are from the town of Hameenlinna. It has a population of 65,000. Its top industry is metals.

More than 60 Finnish students applied to be enrolled in the program.

“We have a good bunch of kids,” said Aki.

Aki can speak English, German, Finnish, Swedish and German. He and wife Kate have two children, Mira, 19 and Jaro, 16.

Walter speaks English, Swedish, German, Spanish and Finnish. He and wife Elsa have three sons, William, 9, Aatos, 7, and Akseli, 3.

Aki has made many trips to America, whereas Walter had been to the U.S. only one time, when he visited his little brother in Los Angeles in 2015.

Eeti, 18, is a freshman student in Finland. He said he has “learned very much English” during his short stay in Blooming Prairie. Holding onto an Awesome Blossoms football, Eeti said his country and the U.S. definitely have different cultures.

The Finland exchange students attended the Blooming Prairie-Winona Cotter football game two weeks ago. The Awesome Blossoms won the game, 39-7.

Eliot Gimbel said he has learned more about Finnish music because of Eeti’s stay. He has become a fan of Kanye West, Drake, and Eminen. He also has learned more about differences in word pronunciation.

“They don’t use the ‘th’,” said Eliot.

Owen, a seventh grader, said he has taught Eeti the games of Blitz Ball and Pickle Ball. The Finnish kids agreed that they have built some “beautiful memories” during this one-week stay. Who is Taylor Swift? Eeti is still trying to find out.

The Finnish students were scheduled to leave Blooming Prairie early on a Saturday. They asked for the time to be extended.

“Our host families have been very good to our kids, and we have told our families and friends in Finland that we have left our kids behind,” Aki said jokingly.