Have any fun plans for Spring Break? Well, some students from the South Bay are going on a trip of a lifetime to Loreto, Baja California Sur Mexico tomorrow, which is not only educational but a life changing experience.

Tomorrow, 14 students from the South Bay will be going to Loreto, Baja California Sur for the week for a Student Exchange Program that was started in 1967.

Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777. The city of 14,724 people (2010 census) is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortez, about 350 km (220 mi) north of the state capital, La Paz.

The town was founded in 1697 by Jesuit  missionaries, who found a steady spring of fresh water on this site, as the Mision Nuestra Senora De Loreto. The town served as the capital of the province of Las Californias from its founding until the capital was moved to Monterey on February 3, 1777. The town then became the headquarters for the Lieutenant Governor of California Viejo (later the province of Baja California).

The city is now a tourist resort, catering mostly to U.S. travelers, with daily flights from California to the Loreto International Airport (LTO). Many American tourists enjoy fishing in “pangas” for “dorado”. Local restaurants will willingly prepare the daily catch of the tourists. Loreto has a museum that coexists alongside the historic, but still active, parish. Loreto has active sister city relationships with Hermosa Beach and Cerritos California, USA.

There are 9 girls and 5 boys going. The students are from Manhattan Beach Middle School, Paris Middle School, and Adams Middle School – Manhattan and Redondo schools.

Join the fun and excitement of a lifetime in our delightful sister city Loreto , Mexico ! For over 30 years, the Hermosa Beach Sister City Association has sponsored Hermosa Valley School  7th & 8th grade students as well as students from Manhattan and Redondo in the past few years –  in a cultural exchange program between Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico and the Beach Cities of Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo.

Students will live with a Loreto 7th or 8th grader and his/her family for 7 days and build a lifetime of memories with chaperoned daily activities and organized field trips. After all the fun, Beach Cities students will host their Loreto 7th or 8th grader for one week in July and show them our way of life here.

Loreto , Mexico is a safe and beautiful town on the Sea of Cortez. Chaperones will escort students to and from Mexico , match students to host families, and participate in the organized activities.

The students from Loreto will come to the South Bay during the week of July 12 – 19, 2013 and experience what life is like in the South Bay. The students will go to different cultural places, including museums, aquariums, theme parks, just to name a few.

The great thing about the Loreto program is that both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach both have sister cities in Baja California Sur Mexico. Manhattan’s sister city is Santa Rosalia and Redondo Beach’s sister city has 2: La Paz and Ensenada. Both Mira Costa High School and Redondo Union High School have Baja Clubs and the high school students spend the week in Santa Rosalia or La Paz/Ensenada during the February Break or Spring Break. Therefore,  the Hermosa Beach program prepares the 7th and 8th grade students incase they want to continue with the exchange programs in High School.

The HBSCA Cultural Exchange Program was certified by the United States Congress, and entered into the congressional record of the 110th congress session.