Wednesday, January 28, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Exchange student sings with Americana Project
By Jodi Schneider mcNamee
Correspondent
Giovanna Medola, a native
of Atibaia, Brazil, dreamed of
being an exchange student for
years. After signing up with
the foreign exchange pro-
gram, taking tests and filling
out forms, she finally got the
opportunity to be able to meet
kids from a different culture.
The exchange program chose
the city she would be living
in — Sisters, Oregon.
Medola arrived in Sisters
last September to live with
her host family, guitar in
tow, speaking fluent English,
which is her second language,
with barely a whisper of an
accent of her native tongue of
Portuguese.
She began her journey
learning about the American
culture at the start of the 2014
school year as a senior in
Sisters High School.
“I learned English when I
was only 5 or 6 years old, I
took it in school as a second
language and also took an
extra class after school two
times a week,” Medola said.
“I wanted to be an exchange
student and see new cultures
because my older brother told
me that it was the best experi-
ence of his life when he did
it. I was only 8 years old and
I never forgot.”
Since Medola has played
the acoustic guitar since
she was 12, her host fam-
ily mother, Adrienne Banks,
thought the Americana
Project at Sisters High School
might be something that she
would benefit from.
“When I first started the
Americana class I was in
cycle one for beginners, but
since I already knew the gui-
tar, it was pretty easy for me.
Then on the third week, our
teacher, Mr. Johnson was
walking around and really
listened to me play, and
instructed me to play and
sing any song that I wanted
for my next test,” Medola
said. “So I performed my
own version of ‘YMCA,’ by
the Village People that I have
played in Brazil. It went well,
and then I got to play in front
of the whole school at the
Americana Assembly with
about 26 other students!”
Medola got the chance
to take her musical skills to
another level by writing three
songs.
“The Americana classes
helped me so much. I learned
how to compose my own
songs and I made many
friends. Plus, I cannot believe
you can get a credit for play-
ing the guitar,” Medola said.
“The classes at my high
school in Brazil are mostly
academic.”
One of Medola’s original
songs will be recorded on the
next album produced by the
Americana Project students; it
will be their 12th album since
2003 and will be released in
May 2015.
“I’m excited that an
exchange student got to
participate in self-expres-
sion for youth, and with
American roots music,”
said Brad Tisdel, executive
director of the Sisters Folk
Festival, which oversees the
Americana Project in part-
nership with Sisters schools.
“She’s the first student to
record a song that is half
English and half Portuguese.”
In September, Medola also
signed up with the Sisters
cross-country team.
“I’m not much of a sports
person, but I can run, and
I wanted to make friends,”
Medola said. “Everyone was
super nice and we had lots of
fun running the races.”
However, there were a
couple of things that didn’t
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giovanna medola thinks the americana project is “the coolest thing ever.”
come quite so naturally to the
friendly 17-year-old senior.
“U.S. history was so hard
for me to conquer, but I did
it,” Medola said. “And one
thing I can’t get use to is
the cold weather. In Brazil
it is warm all the time, year
’round. Each day it seemed
to get a little colder in Sisters
and I don’t understand how it
doesn’t bother anyone. But, it
was nice to see snow for the
first time.”
Medola has adapted well
to life at Sisters High School.
“Our school year in
Brazil is from February to
November and there is more
pressure in the last year of
high school and very hard
tests to take,” Medola said.
“I feel more open-minded
from this experience and I
think I could adjust to any
culture.
“I have never been hap-
pier than with the Americana
Project,” she added. “It’s the
coolest thing ever.”
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