Students Learn from German-American Partnership Program

This past August, Herr and Frau Solan from OCS High School accompanied ten OCS students to Germany and Ireland on a German-American Partnership Program (GAPP) exchange.

Onondaga has been doing this exchange with Lessing Gymnasium (a secondary school) in Uelzen, Northern Germany for decades. Mr. Solan, the high school German teacher, has continued this tradition since starting at OCS in 2016, giving to this point more than thirty of our OCS students a unique opportunity to live for a short time with a German family and attend school in Germany.

During their time in Germany, OCS students were accompanied on an extensive itinerary of castle and museum visits, unique dining experiences and opportunities to see and experience Germany and German culture firsthand. They spent time in the Alps, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Uelzen, Hamburg and Dublin. Many of the students formed deep friendships with their host families and many tears were shed upon departure from Uelzen, said Solan.

A couple months later, OCS students and their families got the chance to return the favor and host their German partners here in the U.S. The group took the German kids and their leaders, Herr and Frau Schmoldt, on several typical American experiences. With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond and all of the families that hosted an exchange student, the German visitors got to experience a huge American BBQ. They also got to go Apple picking at Navarino Orchards, eat at Heid’s and Vicky’s, an ice cream parlor in Liverpool, go to Niagara Falls and go for a ride on the Maid of the Mist.

While at the high school, the German exchange students attended several extracurricular events including sports and drama. They presented several short presentations on German culture, and overall had a very positive experience in our community.

“On a personal note, I would really like to thank Mr. Sharpsteen for always putting together fun experiments for our guests to experience and our administrative staff and school board for all of the support they give to our exchange program enabling German language at OCS to remain strong,” said Solan. “This German program could not continue without the support of our remarkable staff and community.”