By Vicky Wedig
Editor
Two Delavan host families bade goodbye to their guest students Monday, and another exchange student will arrive in Darien in two months.
Matt and Annette Drefs hosted Sena Yomra, from Turkey, for the 2012-13 school year at Delavan-Darien High School, and Frank and Barbara Kropacak hosted Nichapat Thoraneethong, from Thailand.
The girls set off to Washington D.C. on Tuesday before heading to their home countries Friday, and the American Field Service exchange program is preparing for another round of guest students for next school year.
So far one student is being hosted at Delavan-Darien High School for the 2013-14 school year. Ed and Cheryl Kaufenberg, of Darien, will host Hermann Henriksen, 17, of Norway.
Cheryl Kaufenberg, AFS chapter volunteer and former president, said the organization always needs host families. To host for next year, families need to pair with a guest student as soon as possible, she said. Students arrive in mid- to late-August and stay through mid- to late-June.
Kaufenberg said about 30 students from the World Flags Area Team, the AFS chapter for Wisconsin, are still looking for host families. She said families can view students’ profiles by filling out a host family interest form at www.afsusa.org and choose a student whose interests and activity level matches their family’s. Host families will not be able to see students’ pictures online – only their county’s flag. People can also call Kaufenberg at 882-5333 or Jennifer Ludowise at 728-5267 for help pairing with a student.
The Kaufenbergs have hosted five students since the late 1990s
“I like a good command of the English language,” said Kaufenberg, who has exchanged emails with Henriksen about his interest in playing football or soccer here.
Kaufenberg said some students choose a year in the United States to improve their English skills, but if they don’t already have a solid grasp of the language, school is difficult.
Kaufenberg said some students also choose the AFS program for an initial exposure to American culture. Henricksen, however, has already traveled the United States extensively – Cheryl and Ed Kaufenberg also are world travelers – and likes the food and people. Cheryl Kaufenberg said she and her husband also were looking for a contact in Norway for their own travels.
Kaufenberg said Henriksen loves to play soccer and is interested in history.
“His interests and abilities were in line with ours,” she said. “He’s a neat young man,”
Gov. Scott Walker’s parents, Llewellyn and Pat Walker, hosted Rodrigo Sanabria from Colombia in the 1984-85 school year at D-DHS when their sons Scott and David were 17 and 13 years old.
Years later, the Walkers, who now live in Wauwatosa, stay in touch with Sanabria, who brought his wife and son to visit the family eight years after spending the school year with them. Sanabria is planning another visit so the Walkers can meet his younger son.
While Sanabria was with them, he played violin in the orchestra and participated in high school track. The Walkers showed Sanabria aspects of small-town life much different than that of Bogota, his hometown. In turn, they were able to learn about his family as well as his country.
Pat Walker told Kaufenberg that AFS was a wonderful student exchange program of which to be a part, and the family enjoyed attending chapter meetings, which gave them the opportunity to meet other families and hosted students.
“Hosting a student was a rewarding experience for us, and we would highly recommend it,” she said. “We continue to be blessed with enjoying our AFS son and his family still today.”
AFS has been “exchanging” students for 60 years. Host families can be single-parent households, homes with children or homes without children.
Since D-DHS hosted its first AFS student in the 1954-55 school year, the district has hosted 170 students and two teachers, Kaufenberg said. The district typically hosts about three students per year but can take as many as five.
The family of Delavan resident Carol Dinsmore, whose father was Elmer Stevens, hosted the first student, Leena Rintala, from Finland, who has visited Dinsmore since.
The Kaufenbergs have hosted a boy from Argentina, who came only for a semester – an option for families uncertain about hosting for an entire year, two girls from Turkey, a boy from Istanbul and a boy from Italy.
The Kaufenbergs temporarily hosted Yomra, one of this year’s students who was brought to the United Stated without a host family, before the Drefs took her in in mid-October.
Matt Drefs said the family was somewhat concerned about bringing a Muslim girl into their Christian home but said the experience was positive.
He described Yomra as a bright, happy girl.
“She laughs all the time,” he said.
Drefs said his family plans to take some time off from hosting but will consider doing it again when their daughter, Lena, who has an interest in Japan, is a senior.
“I would encourage people to do it,” he said. “It’s certainly an interesting experience.”
