An eight-person delegation from the Azores islands marveled at the quality of programs offered at GNB Voc-Tech Monday morning, as they learned about a robust vocational education during a cultural and informational exchange.

“This is a really exciting opportunity,” said Dartmouth resident and social studies teacher Michael Watson. “We want to provide support for pedagogy and education initiatives that may be adopted in the Azores.”

Watson is a former Dartmouth selectman who assisted with establishing a Sister City agreement between the town and Azorean towns.

The delegation toured all 30 career programs offered at the regional high school, which serves more than 2,000 students from New Bedford, Dartmouth and Acushnet.

Visiting were six officials from the small towns of Nordeste and Lagoa, including two professors from the University of the Azores.

Former Joseph DeMello Elementary School principal and Dartmouth resident Ed Tavares had a hand in coordinating the visit.

Dartmouth and Nordeste have strengthened ties with each other in recent years. Both towns signed a Sister City pact in 2014. A former co-chair of the Sister City delegation, Tavares visited the island of São Miguel last year.

On Monday, he ate breakfast with Raquel Dinis and Joselia Fonesca of the University of the Azores and school administrators before the tour.

His focus has been promoting best practices in the field of special education.

“The idea is to spread what we do here in the U.S. to help kids over there,” Tavares said.

Dinis said she was grateful to be part of the exchange. She found the prospect of starting new programs using with what she and her colleagues learned promising.

“We’re very excited about this visit, and we are hopeful to take some ideas, do things better and develop our own best practices,” said Dinis.

With a large Azorean population in the area, Superintendent James O’Brien noted the school has helped shaped immigrants' lives. The visit was a chance to bolster programs in the delegation’s home country, he said.

“They will see what our students do each and every day,” O’Brien said. “And also what our community outreach is, what we do beyond classroom walls. Whether that’s rebuilding a building at the Dartmouth Grange, the Council on Aging or Brooklawn Park.”

O'Brien added that classes have had a positive influence on many.

“A lot of these people have come here from the island, and through the training they received at the school, whether as a vocational high school student or as an adult learner, have made [GNB Voc-Tech] part of their success story,” O’Brien said.

Watson agreed.

“People have emigrated here and prospered,” he said. “They came from poor families and have gone on to own businesses and become successful.”

The delegation’s weeklong stay began with a tour of the school to observe students and staff.

In the culinary department the visitors wandered through a bustling commercial kitchen as students put the finishing touches on cakes ahead of a competition.

From there, they made their way to the steam engineering program, the only one of its kind in Massachusetts. Amid the massive boilers, the delegation learned many students find well-paid jobs in the field upon graduating.

That was eye opening news for some delegation members who seek to combat high unemployment with better vocational opportunities.

The delegation was impressed with the number of young women participating in automotive and carpentry classes, both fields that few women currently pursue in the Azores.

Officials also exchanged gifts and invited O’Brien to tour schools in the Azores to further the exchange of ideas while bolstering programs overseas.