Germany

St. Rita High School Says Guten tag to German Visitors

The St. Rita High School community has embarked for a new world. The whole Mustang family, and twelve of its individual families, hosted students and teachers from Hamburg, Germany, in the inaugural year of the International Exchange Program, directed by Mrs. Jodi McLawhorn.

Our German friends come to us from Emilie Wuestenfeld Gymnasium, located in Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany. It is a secondary school that educates students from grades 5 to 13. Six young men and six young women, accompanied by two of their teachers, arrived at St.Rita on September 26, 2007 for a three-week visit. For most, it was their first time in the United States.

The mission of the International Exchange Program (IEP) at St. Rita is to teach the knowledge and skills needed for our students to act as responsible global citizens, with a spirit of understanding and tolerance for diversity that will enable them to live in truth, unity, and love; something that Ritamen try to do every day.

A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ goes out to our host students and their families for providing the basic needs for our German guests. The host students - Brian Allen, Zack and Luke Bentley, Patrick Boline, Erick Diaz, John Howard, Michael Kennedy, Lukasz Kramarz, Matt McGeever, Richard and Thomas Qualter, Andy Smialek, Eric Sloyan and Kevin Yerkes and their families became the adopted families of the twelve guests for three weeks. They opened their homes, refrigerators and busy schedules so that the German students could really experience the full gamut of life as an American high school student.

Although there were numerous activities planned for the IEP group, the host families had plans and adventures of their own set up for their guest students. These included going to church, visiting local hang-outs, traveling to other American cities, eating out, shopping, attending sporting events and dances, and just relaxing and watching favorite American TV shows such as “Dancing with the Stars.”  One of the host dads said he was glad to have a chance to share some American history with his exchange student.

During the weekdays the IEP students were busy seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of our great city. The goals of the program are to offer a multi-faceted exchange in the areas of culture, music, art, history, sports, spirituality and technology, to name a few. There were various field trips to locations such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium, theatre, government agencies, Navy Pier, local historical sites, and exposure to all the different aspects of Chicago.

Our IEP students, who all have had at least five years of English language instruction, were also able to teach us about their many experiences and travels in Europe. In the classroom, during Homecoming week, and throughout the trip, everyone involved in the program opened their hearts and minds, with amazingly rewarding results.