This summer, Del Val continued its German Exchange Program. Led by Benjamin McPherson, students and staff went to Freiburg, Germany from June 17 to July 3.
Though the program started in 1997, this is Del Val’s first summer trip to Germany in three years due to COVID. McPherson, who was also once a student at Del Val, went on the trip in 2006 as a student and has been going as a teacher since 2014.
This trip is a great opportunity for students to practice German and better understand the culture.
“They [students] were trying to speak German and assimilate with the German culture,” McPherson said.
McPherson is proud that his students succeed in connecting with their german friends more over the course of the trip.
The way to Germany was simple; the students met early and took a coach bus to JFK Airport.
Once the students arrived in Freiburg, they had a blast hanging out with their exchange students. They had made close friendships with their German exchange partners six months ago when they came to Del Val.
This year, students participated in hikes in the Black Forest, hang outs with german friends made through the program and independent explorations of the beautiful city of Freiburg.
Heather Fleischman enjoyed herself as a chaperone on the trip.
“It’s fun to watch all of the relationships blossom and to see the students learning from one another,” Fleischman said.
The trip itself not only gave students the opportunity to assimilate with German practices, but it also let students flourish on their own as they were given complete freedom for the majority of the trip. Everybody was responsible for themselves, and there was little chaperone supervision, unless the trip attendees were doing a group activity.
Adrienne Wolfram, a student who attended the trip, loved hanging out with her exchange partner and others who went.
“It was really unexpected how much freedom we had while we were there,” Wolfram said. “It was like we were college students. We could go in and out of the school whenever we wanted, which was cool.”
Students agree with Wolfram that the trip was a great learning experience that helped them grow more comfortable with both the German language and culture as well as managing new environments independently. Students and chaperones alike look forward to going on the trip again next year.
