Central Mountain Students Bridge Cultures on Unforgettable German Exchange Trip
By Christopher Miller
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Central Mountain High School German Teacher Doug Madenford, or “Herr Madenford” as he is known by his students, provided the Keystone Central school board with an update and review of the recent German Exchange Program and trip to Germany in late-June.
The partner school, Burghardt-Gymnasium in Buchen, Germany, is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany.
“The program was started in the 90s at Lock Haven High School by the late teacher Thomas Hopkins,” Madenford explained.
“German students and chaperones come here in the fall for 10 days, and each is paired with a CMHS student. Our families here house their students, feed them, and give them the best American experience they can have while visiting. We had 18 students here last year.”
While in Germany, CMHS students were on the receiving end of the hospitality; they were the exchange students in a foreign land.
Students participated in various presentations on life in the United States and central Pennsylvania, told German students about what high school is like at CMHS, met the Mayor of Buchen, Roland Burger, went on field trips to Heilbronn, Würzburg, Nürnberg, and Stuttgart, saw medieval art, palaces, the Nazi parade grounds, and visited the Mercedes-Benz museum.
CMHS students also had some interesting experiences with their German host families like attending German birthday parties, and enduring a heat wave with no air conditioning where ceiling fans and air conditioning are highly uncommon in Europe.
During the presentation, Madenford showed pictures from the trip, including a screenshot of a video that was created showcasing Superintendent Dr. Frank Redmon and CMHS Principal Nick Verrelli.
Walking almost everywhere is commonplace in Germany and a great part of Europe. CMHS students walked with their German friends to a cave four miles away from the school.
“Not one student complained, to me anyway, about the walk,” Madenford exclaimed.
While in Buchen, Madenford and chaperone Lindsay Kalbach met with Mayor Burger and presented him with a proclamation from Lock Haven Mayor Joel Long proclaiming the prolonged friendship and relationship between the two cities.
“The Mayor of Buchen was very honored to receive such a gift,” Madenford said.
Students also had the opportunity to experience public transportation while in Germany, particularly riding on trains as buses in Germany are expensive.
Places that students toured included the Nazi parade grounds in Nürnberg including a tour inside the Nazi congress for the 1,000 year Reich which was left unfinished after the war.
Bakeries are abundant throughout German cities and villages with breakfast rolls being staple of most German breakfasts.
Students also visited a baroque palace that was destroyed during World War II but was rebuilt to exact specifications afterwards. A highlight of the palace was the Hall of Mirrors. They also toured the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart where they witnessed the world’s first automobile, the Patent-Motorwagen, designed and built by Karl Benz.
Some takeaways on the recent trip and exchange were that CMHS students were very flexible and graceful under stress, they were willing to try new things and never once did a student show signs of being homesick. Though they were visiting during a historic heatwave, students endured life with no fans or air conditioning in Germany homes and buildings.
“They were fantastic ambassadors to the United States, CMHS, and their families while abroad,” Madenford said.
“They handled questions very well during presentations and there were a lot of tears when we boarded the buses for the journey home.”
Students Angelina Watson and Ricky Fantaski were on hand during the presentation to answer questions and include their experiences during the exchange.
“The pairing of CMHS students to Burghardt students was the closest thing to perfect,” Ricky said.
“When I took part in Senator for a Day with my class and Cris Dish’s office in Harrisburg, he would always say how anytime you leave the country, you will be thanking God when you return home. Even though we were in Germany for only 10 days, I really did miss life in the U.S. Central Mountain students really need to experience something like this in their life. Oh, and the mustard in Germany is topnotch, along with weißwurst (white sausage). Schnitzel and noodles with gravy were a favorite of Angelina.
Angelina also spoke about how she went everywhere her host family went, including an adventure to a castle with a picnic on the grounds and seeing its old ruins, and just being throughout Germany.
CMHS teacher Lindsay Kalbach also went along on the trip acting as chaperone.
“I had never been to Germany let alone Europe before,” she said. “I had no German background so I was able to experience Germany as a true outsider and I am so thankful and lucky to have been asked to go along on this trip. When we weren’t with the students we were speaking German to others, and I know almost nothing about the language. At the end of the 10 days, I was picking up on inflection, facial expressions, certain words and phrases, and I was beginning to pick things up quickly. When our students left for the day they couldn’t wait to tell me what they did when they returned. It was also very nice to meet Doug’s friends who live in Germany. It was a wonderful experience.”
School Board member Elisabeth Lynch, Butch Knauff, and Dr. William Baldino exchanged stories and praise for the program at CMHS.
“I cannot tell you how excited I am for international programs and maybe we could have the ability to expand this program and partner with other school districts in the future to get more programs,” Lynch said. “Part of an education is getting away from home and experiencing new things.”
Board member Butch Knauff recalled when he was stationed in Germany in the late-70s and how his daughter was born in the country and visits frequently.
“The kids in Germany probably have better English-speaking skills than I do,” he laughed. “People need to get a worldwide experience like this.”
Dr. Baldino asked the presenting students how much time they spent speaking German with the other kids in Burghardt. Angelina commented that her host family’s grandparents did not know English and that she spoke a lot of German with them.
After multiple flights home due to weather-related issues in Philadelphia on the arrival date, students and chaperones returned with a new-found sense of pride in their home country, the experience of being immersed head-first in other cultures, and full of stories and new-found friendships.
“It was a 4-5 year hiatus when COVID shut us down for the 2020 trip to Germany,” Madenford said, “but we are so blessed for the school’s support of letting us proceed with continuing the program every other year.”
Herr Madenford wishes to express the sincerest of thanks to the host families in Germany, CMHS and KCSD administration, faculty, staff, and the staff and administration of Burghardt-Gymnasium, the KCSD Foundation, Lock Haven Kiwanis, First Quality, Lock Haven Moose Love #100, Lock Haven 40 et 8 Club, the Lock Haven Sons of Italy, and countless individual patrons who all made this exchange and travel possible.
