Over the past month, Germantown Academy hosted three foreign exchange students from GA’s sister school in Spain. The three students—Paula Gomez-Luque, Paula Perez, and Marina Prats-Garrido—had the opportunity to experience different American traditions and activities.
About eight years ago, a former GA teacher connected with the Europa International School in Seville, Spain. At the time, Sr. Carlos Chubb—Upper School Spanish Teacher—was the director of Europa’s exchange program. Powered by his growing interest in GA, he traveled to our school to ensure that GA’s values aligned with the philosophy of Europa International.
Europa International’s philosophy is to send their students to study abroad, in order to experience another country even for just a week. Europa International had exchange programs with schools in France, Germany, and other parts of the USA. With a similar philosophy in mind at Germantown Academy, Mr. Rich Schellhas—Head of School—and Sra. Carol Ayers—Upper School Modern Language Teacher— pursued this opportunity. They traveled to Spain for several days and met with the Head of the School and Sr. Chubb to ensure the start of the program.
Recalling the tour of the school, Sra. Ayers said, “It is a beautiful school. The outside of it is made to look like the outside to look like the White House. Because it’s so warm in Seville, all of the classrooms led to the outside; while we would walk out to our halls, they would walk outside.”
SISTER SCHOOL: The main building of the Europa International School stands tall. Photo Courtesy of Europa School.
During the program, the students from Europe International went to a Phillies game and visited New York. Though they found their first Phillies game a little confusing, they still enjoyed watching the game and “participating in American culture.” Prats-Garrido noted that she enjoyed eating the food at the game and also emphasized her love of having American candy. Gomez-Luque and Perez both loved the ambiance of the game and learning about “baseball traditions.” They all said that going on the Phillies’ trip was definitely “one of the best and exciting parts” of their stay.
Their favorite part was “experiencing what an American high school is like.” Gomez-Luque said that this experience was “like a summer vacation” and that she did not have a difficult time transitioning from Spain to America. She enjoyed meeting new people and trying American food chains, such as Chick-fil-A and Wawa. They all enjoyed the diversity and connecting with people from different cultures, which is something they did not experience in Spain. Prats-Garrido especially loved the poetry reading and celebrations for LatinX Heritage Month. Perez also enjoyed the ongoing celebration of LatinX Heritage Month and wished she could experience more of the heritage celebrations: “I love how GA celebrates different cultures and I liked experiencing American activities and the food.”
The students had an excellent adventure during the month and enjoyed their time spent here. It was at first very scary for them, but they loved how kind and respectful GA students were, making the experience a lot better.
The wonderful students from Spain are not the only thing that Sra. Ayers is looking forward to. This spring she will be able to take the GA students, Anna Amaan ‘24, Carmela Jenckes ‘24, and Sarah-Grace Coren ‘24 to Spain. They will first tour Madrid for two to three days, then take a train down to Seville, and finally meet with the great families from the sister school. The GA students will also go on excursions to places like Cordoba and Granada, historic Moorish cities, as well as experience La Faria, which is a large annual fair that they have in Seville in April. Ayers calls it “a sight to see.”
How do Spanish learners at GA get access to the Spanish Exchange program? It is open to sophomores and juniors who are in Spanish 2 Accelerated and above. Ayers put it simply: “Students who want to improve their Spanish and who want to experience another culture should absolutely participate in this program! It’s a way of building relationships and making friends that you could have for the rest of your life! That’s what this program is all about, it’s building bridges and friendships in other cultures and countries that last a lifetime!”