Renewing international friendships: 18 CMHS students spend over a week in Germany as part of exchange program
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MILL HALL -- For over 30 years, Central Mountain High School (CMHS) has participated in a German-American exchange program with Burghardt Gymnasium Buchen in Buchen, Germany.
For three decades, CMHS students have hosted German students and, in turn, have been hosted by their German partners for 10 days in Buchen.
In October 2024, 18 German teens visited CMHS and spent 10 days exploring all that Central Pennsylvania has to offer.
This past June, for the first time since the pandemic, CMHS students made the journey across the Atlantic. Eighteen students, along with chaperones Douglas Madenford and Lindsay Kalbach, recently returned from a 10-day stay at CMHS's partner school in southwestern Germany.
While in Germany, the students experienced a variety of cultural and educational activities. They were officially welcomed by Buchen's Mayor, Roland Burger.
During the visit, Madenford presented a proclamation from Lock Haven Mayor Joel Long, recognizing the long-standing friendship between the two communities and expressing hope for its continuation.
The students spent two days attending classes at the German high school, where they gave presentations about CMHS, Clinton County and Pennsylvania.
German students were curious to learn about teenage life in the United States and asked many questions. One very typical German experience was hiking -- on one day, the group trekked over four miles through the countryside from Buchen to Eberstadt, where they toured the popular limestone cave, Tropfsteinhohle.
Other school days included field trips to the cities of Heilbronn, Wurzburg, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. Students toured a baroque palace, the historic Nazi parade grounds at the Volksparteigelande, an interactive science center and the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Each trip also included free time to explore the cities and enjoy local cuisine.
This exchange, like the ones before it, was life-changing for all involved.
Students left the comforts of home and faced new challenges: living with a host family, trying unfamiliar foods, enduring a heat wave without air conditioning or fans and navigating travel via multiple flights, trains and buses. They came to understand that the American perspective isn't the only one -- and that ordering food or making purchases in a foreign language can be both daunting and rewarding.
Many now know that German bread, European ice cream, and Doner Kebaps are some of the best things a person can eat.
According to a release from CMHS, the 18 young adults on this trip exceeded every expectation the school had for them. They were flexible, eager to try new things, graceful under stress and consistently open-minded. They were perfect ambassadors -- not only for our school, but for our country -- at a time when many outside the U.S. view our nation differently.
"Yes, they participated in tourist activities. But more importantly, they attended school alongside German peers, became part of their host families, attended birthday parties and cookouts, and made lifelong friends across the ocean," the release said. "When the time came to say "Auf Wiedersehen" on the final morning, many tears were shed -- proof of how powerful and meaningful this experience truly was."
The CMHS German-American Exchange helps students become global citizens: more thoughtful, independent, compassionate and understanding, the release said.