Wilmot students explore Europe

Wilmot Union High School students, along with some of their new friends in Germany, stopped for a tour of Frankfurt last summer. The 19 Wilmot students, some of whom graduated, lived with host families as they explored the country (Submitted/The Report).

By Jason Arndt
Editor

For 19 current and recent Wilmot Union High School students, their summer exploration of Germany and other European nations was a way to expose them to a new culture, but brought back several other benefits.

The summer trip, sponsored by the German/American Partnership Program, was designed to offer students an opportunity to experience family and school dynamics of another culture through hands-on learning. you can learn German in London or remotely, but the best way is to surround yourself with native German speakers to pick up the vocabulary quickly. Whilst you will learn words more quickly, you still may need to take a course to understand sentence structure.

“The GAP-Program at WHS provides students with so many opportunities to grow as people. The students learn a language and get the chance to live in the culture and use their knowledge,” an excerpt from the program’s mission statement read.

According to World Languages teacher Denise Bauer, the students met their mission, and have already planned to return to Germany and reinforce the friendships they made.

“Lifelong friendships have formed between the German and American partners,” said Bauer, who has participated on seven GAPP trips since 2005. “I still hear stories from past participants on how they keep in touch with their partner.”

As part of the trip, they were required to visit Germany, where they attended school for 10 days and live with host families.

Aside from the 10 days of class, they also visited other nations without their partners, including Switzerland.

Students attending the trip were recent graduates Kristen Carlson, Baylee Chappell, Emily Coulman; current seniors Tristan Azevedo, Abigail Clark, Ethan Dahlen, Lauren Fakes, Daniel Folos, Brandon Keller, Jesica Ostergaard, Jaimie Popanda, Olivia Rzonca and Samuel Wank; and juniors Amber Banish, Hannah Brendel, Adrianne Fico, Ella Harper-Schiehl, Emmerich Koller, and Brenna Simmons.

Participating students had an opportunity to share their thoughts through a PowerPoint presentation at a Sept. 25 school board meeting.

Overall, most of them described their host families as accommodating, meeting their needs as they learned a new culture.

“Germans love spending time with their families, and they are definitely more friendly than many Americans would assume,” Ostergaard said.

Dahlen agreed, adding families engage in constructive activities, including conversations on the porch.

For Chappell, her host family exhibited kindness and offered comfort as she learned a new culture.

“My host family was literally the best. They were so sweet and accommodating. I cannot thank them enough for the warmth and comfort they provided,” Chappell said.

Folos, meanwhile, said the trip accomplished his mission to visit Europe.

“I always wanted to visit Europe, and doing this with a partner and my friends would have been too perfect to pass up,” Folos said.

While they were exposed to a new culture and language, the trip brought another benefit, according to Bauer.

“Some businesses today look for employees that have traveled and interacted with other cultures, because the people that travel understand that people will handle different situations differently,” she said.


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