Fourteen students from South Korea’s National University of Education (KNUE) visited the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno at the start of the Spring 2026 semester. They visited several local schools and institutions to learn about the U.S. educational system and culture during the weeklong program.  These students are studying in teacher preparation programs in South Korea.  

During the week, the students visited several local public schools, including Doral Academy, Hug High School, Debbie Smith Academy and Herz Middle School. Students had a chance to tour each school and visit classrooms to get a firsthand look at how U.S. students learn. On the University campus, students sat in on several College of Education and Human Development courses throughout the week and visited the Child and Family Research Center. The students also visited the University’s Lake Tahoe campus. 

KNUE students enjoyed s’mores at the University’s Lake Tahoe campus.

For both universities, this program gives students and faculty the opportunity to collaboratively build a global perspective on education. By learning from each other’s ideas, both cultures can strengthen and grow their own education systems. And for KNUE, building this globalized, interconnected culture is a top priority. 

“I want our students to be interconnected with the University of Nevada, Reno,” said Joosang Lee, a KNUE faculty member who accompanied the students on the trip. “And then they will have an open mind about other people, other cultures and other countries.” 

“I went on this trip because I wanted to learn more about diversity around the world,” said Chaeyun Lee, a student studying music education at KNUE. “I wanted to meet people from all over the world and have conversations with them. And I wanted to learn how the U.S. education system works and how students communicate with their teachers and professors.” 

Cultivating connections among students has been an important part of the program. Several events throughout the week were held for both University of Nevada, Reno and KNUE students, where they had a chance to mingle while learning about each other’s cultures. The event organizers wanted to create opportunities for students to learn about each other’s broader cultures in a curious, inclusive space. 

“That’s something I really admire about our environment here,” said doctoral student Hanine Haidar, who helped coordinate this year’s program. “The way we don’t minimize people to just food, or singular elements of their culture, but we maximize them by accepting them for who they are.” 

The program was first established by an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval and Korea National University of Education President Kim Jongwoo in late 2023, and the first visit by South Korean students was held in January 2024. Each year since, students from both universities have visited each other’s countries and institutions.

In May, several University of Nevada, Reno students will visit KNUE. This program gives an opportunity for this year’s cohort of University of Nevada, Reno students to meet the South Korean students now, so they will already have connections when they visit South Korea in March 2026.  

“This program has provided excellent opportunities for our future teachers to experience diverse educational settings and cultures, enhance their understanding of different educational approaches and build friendships through interactions with pre-service teachers from two different countries,” said Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ph.D., professor of Human Development and Family Science, who developed and led the short-term exchange program.

(From left to right) Mehmet Tosun, Joosang Lee, Man Seob Lee, Mihyun Koh, Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ramya Fernandez and Dean Donald Easton-Brooks.

“It was very important for us to create events where these students would get to interact a lot over this week, so that when our students go to South Korea, they have some connections that they made from their visit here,” said Ramya Fernandez, CPA, MPH, assistant dean of operations, who helped coordinate this year’s program. 

How long does someone have to be in Nevada to be a “local?”

A lot of locals argue that being born here is the only thing that matters. That’s an increasingly narrow scope, because Nevada by far has the fewest born-in-state residents at just 27%.

In contrast, California-born Nevada residents make up 46% of the population. The odds are pretty good that if you hear someone complaining about new arrivals, they only showed up here from Palo Alto in 2021. (“I moved here five years ago for the wide-open vistas over my back fence,” they say. “Now there’s a whole new housing development behind me, ruining the entire vibe! What gives?”)

Yes, we all see the guy in the ski googles and dust-covered fur coat, just ignore him

I’d argue that people are local when they start ignoring weird Reno stuff.

Last week, I asked readers what their “Reno-est” experiences were, and Laura Briscoe talked about flying out of Reno-Tahoe right after Burning Man.

“The airport was full of scruffy, unwashed-looking characters dressed in black with lots of metallic adornments, women in torn fishnet stockings and heavy black boots, and they were all coated in white dust,” Briscoe wrote. “The only people looking askance at them were obviously not from Reno.”

Northern Nevada communities are expected to see expanded housing opportunities following Governor Joe Lombardo’s announcement of more than $64 million in statewide funding for attainable housing, with several projects and assistance programs focused on Reno, Fernley, Washoe County, Lyon County, and rural Nevada.

Part of the funding includes $750,000 approved for the Rural Nevada Development Corporation, which will provide homebuyer assistance across multiple Northern Nevada and rural counties. Eligible areas include Elko, Lander, White Pine, Humboldt, Pershing, Douglas, Mineral, Lyon, Storey, and Carson City, among others. The program is designed to help first-time and moderate-income buyers with down payments and closing costs, expanding access to homeownership in communities where housing options are limited.

Several housing developments were also approved to add both rental units and for-sale homes in Northern Nevada. In Reno, nearly $1.48 million was approved for the Hi-Way 40 project, which will bring 28 new rental homes to Washoe County. Another Reno-based project, Alpine Vista by Desert Wind Homes, received $4 million to support the development of 145 for-sale homes aimed at working families seeking attainable homeownership.

Additional funding will support new housing in surrounding communities. Formation Homes received $2.5 million to develop 54 for-sale homes across Sun Valley, Golden Valley, and Fernley in Washoe and Lyon counties. In Fernley, the Wilson Landing project was approved for $5 million to build 37 for-sale homes, expanding housing options in Lyon County as the region continues to grow.

State leaders say the investments are intended to help Northern Nevada communities keep pace with population growth while providing attainable housing options for local workers. Governor Lombardo has emphasized that increasing housing supply and expanding homeownership opportunities remain key priorities as Nevada works to ensure families have access to safe and affordable places to live.