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A group of nine people from Riga, Latvia, recently toured North Branch Area Public Schools. They are members of Old St. Gertrude's Church in Riga and have a partnership with Living Branch Lutheran Church here in North Branch. According to Bobbie Plante, one of the organizers of the tour, the Latvian visitors were impressed by the technology at the Sunrise River School, positive attitudes at sites, and the number of male teachers at the high school, which they indicated was very low in Latvia.

"A couple of the members that were with us had directly experienced life in the former Soviet Union. They remember invasions and some had family members taken from them and 'shipped away,' said Plante. "They have been a free country now since 1991, so instilling patriotism in young people is very important. They were amazed and impressed to see that an American flag is found in every classroom. It's a constant reminder of how great our country is and how fortunate it is to be the 'land of the free.'"

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