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Like her Swiss sister, Aegerter came to America
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Florence Aegerter is visiting the United States from Switzerland this school year. She is one of several exchange students in the Valley through area Rotary clubs.
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Neighbors | Submitted.The Rogers family is hosting exchange student Florence Aegerter from Swiitzerland this year. The family includes, from left, John, Caeden, Cameron, Jackson and Cynthia. Aegerter is pictured second from right.
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Switzerland exchange student Florence Aegerter poses for a photo with her homecoming date Darrell Green.
Following in the footsteps her older sister, a Switzerland native began preparing for her trip to America two years ago.
Florence Aegerter, 16, is a junior at Boardman High School. She arrived in Boardman Aug. 24 for her first visit to America.
“I wanted to see something else [other] than Switzerland,” she said. “My sister came here and she liked it.”
Aegerter, whose first language was French, also speaks German and has been studying English for the past two years in preparation for her visit to the States. Her trip is sponsored through the Boardman Rotary’s Exchange Student Program.
Coming from a high school totaling less than 300 students, Aegerter has had to adjust to the norms and schedules of Boardman High School. Her school in Switzerland uses desks, not lockers and students are placed in small classes that teachers rotate through during the school year, instead of the students rotating classes.
She said she is enjoying the freedom to change classes, but misses the simplicity of getting to know someone.
“In Switzerland, you see someone one time and you are sure you will see them again,” Aegerter explained. “Here, it is ‘hello’ and you may never see them again.”
She is currently staying with the family of Rotarian Cynthia Rogers, who was also the host family for German student Jakob Korenke, who returned in July.
Aegerter will be changing host families sometime in January. The exchange student program is set up for students to spend time with two different families during their year in America. The Rotary is actively looking for a host family in the Boardman school district willing to take Aegerter in.
Residents interested in volunteering as a host family should contact Pam Traino at 330-727-6642.
“I think families just need to try it and it will be an experience that they will carry with them for a lifetime,” Rogers said. “They will forever be happy that they did it — they just have to take the chance.”
Aegerter will remain in Boardman until June which gives her plenty of time to prepare for prom. Boardman’s homecoming was the first school dance she had ever attended.
She is looking forward to celebrating Halloween and Christmas with the Rogers family and experiencing her first Thanksgiving.
“We don’t have Thanksgiving,” Aegerter said. “We see that always on TV and it looks so good.”