RUMFORD — What do you get when you combine student leaders from a small rural high school with student leaders from a large suburban high school? You get an exchange of experiences and lots of fun.

Mountain Valley High School Student Council hosted such an exchange. For the first half of the day, Scarborough High School students shadowed MVHS students as they went about their normal classes.

Then it was off to Black Mountain for some fun and relaxation.

The MVHS students were amazed by the observations their peers from Scarborough made about MVHS.

Junior Josh Maillet said, “They were really impressed by our physical education program, technology and teacher-student relationships. It’s awesome how as a small rural school we have so much we take for granted.”

Junior Ronald Russell added, “They enjoyed the quaintness of our school. One girl even commented calling the school ‘vintage’.”

By the numbers, Scarborough High School is roughly three times larger than MVHS with 1,100 students. It ranks seventh in Maine in terms of number of students while MVHS’s rank is 58 out of 100 high schools in Maine.

The difference between large and small schools was not lost on MVHS students.

Senior Kristin Arsenault said, “Our school is much smaller, but because of that we have closer relationships and a nice community.”

She continued, “We all expected to feel like we were disadvantaged because they have a bigger school, but we really ended up realizing all the good things we have.”

Junior Madeleine Kaubrys added, “We have a closer staff and student relationship.”

“A lot of the kids like how small the school is and loved how we all knew each other,” senior Caleb Gauvin observed.

“Our school is amazing!” sophomore Liza White concluded.

The trip to Black Mountain afforded the students a chance to relax and really get to know each other.

Senior Kristin Richard said her favorite part of the day was “getting out of school early to chill with some different people.”

Sophomore Jon Adley liked “skiing with their high school.”

According to Student Council Advisor Brenda Cayer, the student councils have plans to meet again in Scarborough at the end of May. That trip will include a visit to a local beach.