Area students visit Germany

Photo

SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR Local students visited Germany this summer as part of an exchange program. The Rhine River and Cologne Cathedral are in the background with students and their hosts. Sitting are German hosts Nadja Kappelar, left, Luca Klein and Michael Sartor. In back are Tabea Neff, host; Emily Henline of Austintown Fitch; Nina Knott, host; Jenna DeLaurentis of Boardman; Alex Apicella of Cardinal Mooney; Alina Domagala, host; Nathan Kalinay of Austintown Fitch; Sieglinde Warren, exchange coordinator; Harry Baumgartner, Austintown Fitch; Leon Breit and Robin Lorenz, hosts; and Larry Warren, exchange coordinator.

Staff report

Six Boardman, Austintown Fitch and Cardinal Mooney students recently returned from Germany, where they stayed in homes of students who visited the area last fall. They were accompanied by Sieglinde and Larry Warren, exchange coordinators, and Cameron Carter, a Youngstown State University education senior. They visited Hennef on the Rhine River in Central Germany near Cologne.

Their hosts planned many activities. They visited the Mayor of Hennef, Mr. Pipke; took an all day trip on the Rhine, where they saw the Seven Hills of the Rhineland; visted the town of Siegburg and the former capital, Bonn. They toured Cologne, spent a day in Berlin, where they walked along the remnant of the Berlin Wall, and they visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The students also experienced the World Cup soccer excitement with their hosts.

The exchange has taken place for nine years with the Gesamtschule in Hennef. Eight to 12 German students from the school will be visiting our area in November. The goal of the exchange is to provide an opportunity for the German and Mahoning Valley students to experience each other’s culture in their homes and schools.