St. Paul’s School welcomes German students to the region after the school’s student exchange program was temporarily suspended due to COVID-19
VISALIA – Students at St. Paul’s School, an independent Christian school serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade, are finding a component of Germany with the return of the student exchange program.
After the temporary suspension of the program due to COVID-19, students from Dr. -Auguste-Kirchner Realschule High School are back in Visalia. While they had been there in the summer before the pandemic, St. Paul’s idea would be for academics to see what it’s like to attend categories in the United States.
“We used to spend in the summer and this year, for the first time, we plan to do the exchanges during the school year,” explained Lea Maryanow, coordinator of the exchange program. “This organization is lately the first coming to our school since COVID, and we will be sending our students there in February.
Maryanow only manages the exchange program, but also helped create it. Born and raised in Germany, Maryanow helped create the program with an old friend of hers, who acts as an exchange coordinator for the Dr. Auguste-Kirchner Realschule.
“I grew up and grew up in Germany and taught as a student there,” he said. “If opportunities (for exchange) with other countries present themselves, I’m sure we would be open to it, but it’s in Germany that we had the most productive appointments of my career. “
The exchange program is presented to eighth-graders from St. Paul, who will spend two weeks with a circle of angelestives in Germany. The same goes for the students of the Realschule Dr. Auguste-Kirchner of Los Angeles, whose two weeks in America ends on September 14.
“Host families and children usually have a great time,” says Maryanow. “The German instructor and I look at the host families and German learners and then find out who is the most productive, whether we have compatibility based on hobbies, diets and other things. to make sure children find their family more productive. “
During their stay, exchange students will not only stay with their American counterparts, but also with younger categories to teach them about Germany and its many traditions.
“Today (exchange students) gave a presentation in our chapel to the whole school, sharing about food and ancient sites, their city and their school,” Maryanow said. “From kindergarten they will move on to fifth grade, playing German games and songs. , and perhaps reading books with the younger ones. “
Although the exchange is necessarily a long excursion, Maryanow believes it is a wonderful way for German and American scholars to practice another way of life, although she notes that, in the end, everyone is equal.
“Once you’re in another country, you suddenly realize that all those things you find are different, like ‘oh, Germany doesn’t have Costco,'” he said. “Last year, one of our academics said, ‘In the end, I found out they were making the same jokes,’ and it became apparent to me that in the end we were all very similar. “
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