Day 166 - MWHS Foreign Exchange Student Pride

Today's post is from parent and community member Cheryl Dahl

This school year we hosted an exchange student; Oskar Danielson from Sweden. Betsey Kiefer, the YFU Coordinator, told us she likes placing kids in MWHS because the school and community are so embracing of the exchange program. I agree with Betsy and I had so much MWHSPride as these foreigners were welcomed, and I watched them acclimate into the American lifestyle at Mound Westonka.

From day one these kids were immersed into classes, activities and athletics. I believe MWHS offered these students so many more opportunities than they would have gotten in a larger school. At MWHS, these students could participate in any activity or athletics program they wanted. That meant they could play a sport that wasn’t offered in their country and they all took advantage of the opportunity. In fact, some of the students were honored at the end of the year as three sport athletes. For Oskar, one of his MWHS highlights was being able to play basketball and making his first basket.

I was so proud of the students for putting in a lot of effort and excelling in their academics. Many of them made the honor roll and this was a testament to our wonderful teachers. The teachers were so nice and went above and beyond to help these kids succeed.

I was bursting with MWHSPride at graduation when Mr. Randklev said this has been the most involved group of exchange students. Mr. Randklev also acknowledged all the exchange students and their families that were present. Oskar's family was here from Sweden and they were so so happy they were here to experience his graduation.

Having Oskar this school year has been a wonderful experience for our family. A BIG thank you to the teachers, coaches and staff for making this year such a great experience for these students. I'm proud of the Westonka community for allowing these kids to make wonderful memories that will last them a lifetime.

Exchange students: Oskar Danielson (Sweden), Luk Fleddermann (Germany), Alexis Olvera (Mexico), Vincent Rominger (Germany)

If you are interested in being a host family contact Betsy Kiefer at: Kiefer@yfu.org (612-298-9987) or Teresa Boser at:Teresaboser@yahoo.com (952-457-9921)

If you have a story that you would like to share, please email mwhspride@277apps.org for more information! We would love to hear from you!