Dec. 4, 2018 ~ Every other year, Olathe Public Schools partners with sister schools in Germany and Japan. Students from these sister schools visit Olathe for 10 days and stay with host families while spending time in Olathe high schools. In the fall, students from Germany visited and during the spring semester, students from Japan will make the trek.
This October, 19 students and two teachers from Germany experienced Midwestern hospitality and visited Olathe East and Olathe Northwest high schools.
Upon arrival, the cultural exchange participants were greeted with a welcome reception at Olathe Northwest High School where they met their host families.
During the trip, students visited iconic Kansas City locations such as the Jazz, Negro League Hall of Fame and World War I museums and ate classic barbecue from Arthur Bryant’s. During the day, participants attended school with the host family students.
Christine Hanks, German teacher at Olathe East, and Kimberly Watts, German teacher at Olathe Northwest, coordinate and organize the program itinerary and maintain the relationship with the sister school.
“Olathe’s cultural exchange with Penzberg has proven to be an invaluable experience for students in our German programs at Olathe East and Olathe Northwest,” Michael Flenthrope, district coordinator of world languages, said. “This partnership enables our teachers to bring the contemporary German culture and language not only into the classroom, but also into the homes of our students through the homestay experience. We greatly value and look forward to continuing this intercultural partnership for years to come.”
At the farewell dinner, German students thanked their host families and taught them about their home city of Penzberg by sharing pictures and performing songs with instruments.
