Exchange program creates lifelong contacts
German class plans for arrival of German teens
September 20, 2015
To complete a cultural interchange, 11 German teens will spend two weeks in Minnesota with the Park students who visited them last summer.
German teacher Shari Fox said the German-American exchange differs from other trips because it’s currently the only true exchange happening. She said as long as she’s been at the school another true exchange hasn’t taken place.
“The German trip is different in that we have a partner school in Germany. This was the first time I took a group of kids to school there for longer than just a day or two,” Fox said. “Many of the kids that they stayed with are coming here next February.”
Fox said some of the students who attended the trip from June 13 to July 1 still text their host families.
“Those are contacts that will last a lifetime,” Fox said.
According to Fox, the German teenagers will come to Minnesota Feb. 7-21.
“We want to give them a real taste of what it’s like to be here in Minnesota,” Fox said. “They’ll be in school with us for a few days.”
Fox said they will also go on some excursions, such as to the Mill City Museum, a skyway tour of Minneapolis and ice fishing.
“I love to see the kids connect and share their things that they’re proud of, and they’re excited for in their culture, but I’m also always excited to see how they start to compare and contrast,” Fox said. “When you’re exposed to more things that are different you have more ideas, and you’re a better problem-solver.”
Fox said lifelong contact and the ability to do the flipside of hosting the German teens are the benefits of the exchange.
“They’re probably going to stay in contact with those people for a long time,” Fox said.
Junior Claire Beneke said 19 days was a good length for the trip, but would have liked it to be longer.
“I loved it,” Beneke said. “You can never see enough of Germany.”
Beneke said she excitedly awaits the arrival of the German teens to Park, but is sad about the time they’re coming.
“I really miss them. You get to know them really well,” Beneke said. “They’re coming in the winter, so I’m kind of bummed because you can’t show them a lot of stuff because it’s Minnesota.”
