A group of S1 pupils were over the moon after receiving a box of USA treats from a family in Salt Lake City, Utah, who they befriended while on a cruise to Greenock.
Depute head Gordon Livingstone and teacher Larraine Thomson took the Developing a Young Workforce class on a tour of the Royal Princess Cruise Ship when it docked to open their eyes to opportunities on board.
During the lunch they met IT specialist Austin Collier, his wife Kate, and their three children and talked to them about life in Greenock and exchanged stories.
Inverclyde Academy pupils Arianna Duncan, and Emily Paul with gifts (Image: Duncan Bryceland)
The Colliers were so moved by the Inverclyde Academy pupils it started a chain of events.
Mr Livingstone said: “The Royal Princess ended up having to stay in Greenock for an extra night because of a storm.
“Instead of going on a tour they decided to get in touch with us at Inverclyde Academy and ask if they could come for a visit.
“It was fantastic, the class loved talking to them. They kept in touch and Austin even dialled in to take part in a skills conference on work we had in the school.”
Inverclyde Academy USA visit (Image: Duncan Bryceland)
The Utah family – including son Kayden and twin daughters Scarlett and Savannah – then sent over a Christmas package full of goodies and mementos of life in the USA for the class. And it came with a special message.
The box was packed full of sweets, books, personalised mementos, Christmas treats and a thank you card.
Austin said: “We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Inverclyde Academy. We had a few travelling nightmares on the cruise and thought it was doomed to fail.
“Then this chance encounter changed everything. Inverclyde Academy rolled out the red carpet for us and treated our family like gold.
“Our teenage children were fascinated at the differences, and they would say that out of all the difference, they favoured Scotland’s way of doing things!”
Inverclyde Academy USA visit (Image: Duncan Bryceland)
The family also enjoyed an impromptu question and answer session, where they exchanged stories.
He added: “The visit was rich, full of humour and fun, we learned a lot of things and even tried out one another’s accent.
“At the end of our visit we were gifted the Scottish cup of friendship a Quaich and it brought tears to our eyes.
“We felt so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet these wonderful people.
“This visit was a simple gesture of kindness and our family felt so loved. It was the highlight of our holiday.”
The box of goodies was a token of their appreciation.
Mr Livingstone said: “The developing a young workforce class is aimed at showing our pupils from a young age the careers and jobs that are out there.
“We went on to a cruise ship because there are so many opportunities for careers that young people would never think of.
“We want to open up the tourism industry to them.”
It particularly inspired Arianna Duncan, from Greenock, and friend Emily Paul from Inverkip, who both loved the cruise ship visit and meeting the family.
Emily, who hopes to have a career in the performing arts, said: “It was a really lovey experience. We loved getting a look at the cruise ship.
“We loved our box of goodies from the family as well.”
Class mate Arianna added: “It was great finding out more about Salt Lake City.”