Recently, Columbia Early College High School hosted 14 students from Denmark.

During their annual visit to Tyrrell County the Danish students worked collaboratively with CECHS students to create a utopian, or perfect, society.

There were four groups of eight to nine students, each group consisting of both U.S. and Denmark students.

The project required the groups to create a constitution, a government, a flag and informational poster, formal paper and presentation.

The paper is the key to the project. It requires the students to reach a consensus on a broad range of topics from education to immigration, to foreign relations, to drugs/alcohol and even animal rights.

“The Utopia Project presents a unique opportunity for our students to learn about different cultures and values and to work on real-world issues,” said Dr. Will Hoffman, Tyrrell County Schools superintendent. “The students tend to discover how many differences they have, but probably more shocking to the students, is how similar they are.”