From Oct. 21 through Nov. 1, Haddonfield School District hosted German exchange students and teachers from Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Schule in Weinheim, Germany, in the first edition of the two-part German American Partnership Program.
During that 11-day period, 11 Haddonfield Memorial High School students – Katie Barrett, Josie Foust, Lisa Edmonston, Jenna Walls, Audrey Andrus, Emily Smart, Lamia Lopez, Scarlett Kinsey, Paige Hodges, Mack Wolschina and Jon Robbins – welcomed their counterparts – Jana Fussinger, Vivien Huber, Lara Dietrich, Adina Stein, Lisa Wetzel, Pauline Moders, Juliane Weinast, Lena Mierswa, Merle Thews, Ben Schmidt and Joris Druskeit – into their homes and into their daily lives.
On the schedule were field trips to Philadelphia and New York City, attending a Bulldawgs football game and a school dance, an American Halloween experience, and to close out their American adventure, a three-day sojourn to Washington, D.C. before returning to Weinheim.
When the Sun caught up with the group in the high-school library on Oct. 30, which included HMHS German teacher Garrett Watkinson as well as two teachers from Bonhoeffer, it took a little while for the group to warm up and open up as well.
Robbins finally broke the ice, explaining: “I can’t wait to show my exchange partner something that is really meaningful to me, a monument that I really like. It’s in Philadelphia and I think I’m going to take him there this weekend.”
Of course, bringing high-school students together may lead to some awkward moments, but participating in an exchange with mutual ages and languages in common breaks down some barriers.
“It’s great when you make connections to people in different countries, and it doesn’t feel like you’re being forced to be friends with them – it’s all natural and we’re having a lot of fun together,” said Kinsey, who traveled to Ireland this past summer and is expected to head to Germany next year.
For the adults in charge, the process of organizing has its pitfalls, but things have worked out smoothly.
“We’ve been doing this for the last eight years and this is the fifth year we’ve been doing this together. It’s not a nightmare, but it is a lot of work,” Watkinson admitted. “I feel this group has had a much better chemistry than in years past.”
DBS teacher Anke Balduf, who has been involved with Watkinson from the start of the exchange, added, “This is a great opportunity for our students to come here and experience everything. And the same goes for the American students, because we have a totally different school system. It’s a great thing for them.”
The German students aren’t simply shadowing their American counterparts while visiting. As Hodges explained, it’s not a matter of balancing her activities with partner interaction, but inclusion in everyday things. Walls concurred, adding her partner is free to sit with her parents or other friends and interact while she attends to a field hockey practice or game.
HMHS students will travel to Germany next year to complete the second part of the exchange.
Participation is open to all students who are in good standing academically, at least 16 years old by June 2020, have successfully completed at least three years of German, possess positive social characteristics such as maturity, responsibility, adaptability, flexibility, tolerance, a sense of humor, curiosity, a cooperative attitude and respect for self and others, and most importantly, the willingness to speak German within and beyond the classroom.
“There are experiences you’re going through now and those that will come later on, and you will realize how they shape you. When you stop, and take a moment to think about this exchange, I think you will have lots of thoughts eventually, but (the appreciation) will come years later,” Watkinson told the gathering.
