Having traveled nearly 5,000 miles across
the seas to the US, 49 students from Germany
were given the opportunity to be a part of the
Spartan family and experience American culture.
For five weeks in the first quarter of the
school year, WS hosted these German exchange
students. The first group of students
came here to participate in the choir partnership
program led by WS choir director Dustin
Brandt. The following group came to take
part in WS’ German student exchange program
with our students currently taking German
as a foreign language.
German exchange students in the choir
program were able to experience Sparta’s
Homecoming, tour Washington, D.C. and
live with Spartan choir host families throughout
their trip. They also had to prepare for the
concert at the end of their visit with 12 songs
of their own as well as learning several songs
to sing alongside the Spartans.
“Singing with the choir was great because
there are so many nice people,” said Niklas
Lawrenz, a student of the German choir.
This program provides learning opportunities
for both Spartans and the Germans
and allows the students to make connections
with one another. The two groups have grown
close to each other, as they were already familiar
with one another from their previous
visit in the fall of 2014.
“Having a German exchange student really
gave me a new best friend who is almost
a sister to me now. I can’t imagine not knowing
her,” said junior Laura Maloney.
The other group of German exchange students
contained several people who had never
been to the US. They were able to experience
the lifestyle of an American teenager for their
two weeks here.
“I noticed it was all just big and impressive.
I love it here. I am going to miss the
food, especially tex-mex,” said Valentina
Bilek, a German exchange student who was
hosted by the Gilmore family.
Along with getting to tour the city, they
were able to participate more as a student in
WS. They shadowed their host students to
experience several days in the life of a Spartan
student. The exchange students were also
able to immerse themselves into their host
families due to more available time.
“It was not as hard to bring her into my
family and [have her] become part of it as I
thought. I’m going to miss her,” said junior
Kate Gilmore.
The Gilmores were one of 18 families
who experienced hosting a German student.
These families put a lot of effort in making
these students’ experiences the best they
could be and sacrificed their time in order to
display true Spartan hospitality.
Along with the participation of the hosts,
both programs required a lot of assistance
from teachers and administration as well. It
took hours of planning the trips, assigning
families to each student, and making accommodations
throughout their time which
allowed the German students to enjoy their
trip to the fullest. Both Spartans and German
students were impacted by the time they were
able to spend together.
“I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity
to be touched by the Germans in this
experience,” said junior Somer Lee.