Through the German-American Partnership Program, or GAPP, 15 German students will be in Rock Island from October 17th through the 31st. This past June, five Rock Island High School students spent three weeks in Germany as part of this program.
Rock Island High School is looking for 11 families to host the German Students arriving in October.
“We are really excited to have this be a part of our school and a part of our district,” said Nick Eli, a German language teacher at Rock Island High School and the coordinator of this program. “The purpose of it is, it’s a way to extend our students’ learning of German language and culture.”
Some responsibilities that the host families will need to fulfill include: a private room for students to stay in, transportation to and from school and other events, and participation in welcome and farewell events.
Exchange students not only take courses at Rock Island High School, but also get involved with extracurriculars and participate in Halloween activities.
While German students are in Rock Island, they will be immersed in not just activities through Rock Island High School, but all around the Quad Cities area as well.
“They also just immerse themselves in what’s going on locally.” said Eli. “We have our students go to John Deere Seeding Group for tours, they’ve gone to the John Deere Pavilion, they also get involved with the German-American Heritage Center.”
Rock Island students wanting to get involved need to have three recommendations from an adult and will have a short interview with Eli. Any Rock Island student interested is encouraged to apply.
Eli encourages all of those interested in hosting a German Exchange student to contact him at nick.eli@rimsd41.org.
“If anybody is interested in becoming part of our program, you’re extremely welcome,” said Eli. “It’s something that I think is a gem in our school district. The best thing that I am able to do is to provide our students and community with the opportunity to exchange. Learning from each other, learning about how people live in different places, and then also for our students, really expanding their worldview.”
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