7th Annual Alumni Newsletter - School Web sites hosted by Eugene ...

GAPP EXCHANGE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
Eugene IHS and Gymnasium Wendalinum recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their German American
Partnership Program exchange. We welcomed eighteen students and two teachers from St. Wendel, Germany.
While they were here the guests attended classes, tried American food, gave presentations on their homeland,
hiked Silver Falls and Smith Rock, played laser tag, explored the state capitol building, took in the High Desert
Museum, learned about U.S. government from Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson, gave an interview for
Skipping Stones magazine, and made many, many new friends. Their busy schedule then took
them to San Francisco before they headed home. Next summer a delegation of Eugene students
will visit St. Wendel and continue the tradition. The letter below was sent by St. Wendel’s GAPP
coordinator, Wolfgang Ulbrich.
Dear GAPP friends,
The forthcoming visit of St. Wendel exchange students
to Eugene will be from: Sep. 25 to Oct. 19, 2010.
English teacher Heinz Roehrig is chaperoning the
Wendalinum group together with our principal
Heribert Ohlmann.
As I started the programme with a visit to the International
High School, Eugene with a group of ten St. Wendel girls
on March 30, 1990, we can now celebrate 20 years of
our successful Wendalinum – IHS GAPP exchange programme.
So it is a lucky coincidence that our principal is
co-chaperoning this year’s Wendalinum student group. I
hope you can somehow integrate this anniversary into a
potluck or any other school welcoming event.
As very few teachers still know about the beginning of
the programme I guess I should briefly inform those
who have joined the programme fairly recently about the
previous exchanges and the teachers involved. Our first
three visits to Eugene by St. Wendel students were chaperoned
by me alone. In spring 1990 we were welcomed
by Dwayne Adcock from the 4J School District and IHS
Head Teacher Jon Doornink. Dwayne and Jon helped
substantially to bring about the exchange of the young
IHS. In 1997 Heinz Roehrig accompanied me to Eugene.
Two years later Heinz was joined by Andrea Bechter. On
our next four tours I took with me Brigitte Moll (2002),
Dorothee Trenz (2004), Guenther Kuntz (2006) and Sara
Buech (2008). On the American side it was SEHS guidance
counselor Laurene Larson who took the first two
American student groups to St. Wendel. The next two tours
were chaperoned by IHS teacher Steve Smith. Then SEHS
German teacher Yasmin Staunau continued the programme
twice. In 2007 SEHS German teacher Kathy Saranpa
accompanied American students to St. Wendel with Indira
Bakshi. Kathy and others later were joined in the preparations
by Kyle Yamada. In 2009 IHS teacher Craig Wiebe
and Carrie Grabowski took Eugene students to Germany.
6
With substantial assistance by the German-American
Partnership Programme and the St.Wendel based
German-American Friendship Group Lane County around 200
students and 14 teachers from both sides of the Atlantic have
so far enjoyed and profited from the three-week intercultural
education. We would very much like to continue this successful
work and contribute to mutual understanding across borders
and develop personality of young people.
Wolfgang Ulbrich
Gymnasium Wendalinum
St. Wendel
GAPP-coordinator
EUGENE IHS FACTOID #2
Our Opening Assembly, long a tradition in Eugene IHS,
sets the tone for the year ahead. This year, we shared our
collective experience by exploring the power an individual
has to change the world.
The message was simple and powerful: Every one of us
has the power to change the world. All it takes is an idea,
an inspiration, an education, some connections and a commitment
to take action.
At our Opening Assembly we heard from two students—Ari
Hirschstein and Terry Cobian—who traveled to Ghana
and Argentina, respectively, to complete service projects and
cultural exchange designed to increase intercultural understanding.
We also heard from alumni Michelle Spresser
who lived and worked in Swaziland, sharing her talents and
willingness to make a difference at an AIDS/HIV clinic in
a remote area. She spoke of the children she met and her
daily interactions—the small kindnesses that served to
make their lives more comfortable and hopeful.
Also, students donated canned food to FOOD for Lane
County at the Assembly, a small action to help combat
hunger.