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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2018)
PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 3, 2018 KeizerCommunity McNary students tour Germany KEIZERTIMES.COM By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary senior Kate Bomar signed up for German three years ago for the chance to visit the country. “My brother went a long time ago and I really wanted to explore the world,” said Bomar, who had never been outside of the United States. The trip was everything she could have hoped for. “It was amazing. I got to meet so many different peo- ple,” Bomar said. “It was really interesting learning about the culture. The world is so much bigger than what you think it is. Sometimes I forget that there’s so many people out there. It was so cool learning about the history and it just gives you a good look on life.” Bomar was one of 29 Mc- Nary students who spent four weeks in Germany this sum- mer, June 22-July 19. For the fi rst three weeks, stu- dents stayed with host families as part of an exchange program with McNary’s partner school, Königin-Olga-Stift Gymna- sium, a bilingual college prep high school in Stuttgart. The exchange is in its 28th year. While German students visit Keizer every spring, Mc- Nary travels once every two years. Nigel Guisinger, McNary graduate and Germany ex- change participant who owns Willamette Valley Appliance, donated $2,500 to the ex- change for needy students. His gift helped fi ve McNary stu- dents afford to go to Germany. While in Stuttgart, Mc- Nary students gave presenta- tions to fi fth graders on what life was like at their high school in America. They also fol- lowed their host student along through their classes. Drew Faatz, a 2018 gradu- ate of McNary, took German for four years. His father had spent two years in Heidelberg, Germany when he was about his age. “Having the German teach- ers (John Mangan and Elizabeth Jacobson-Secor) at McNary speak German to us all the time was pretty helpful because it wasn’t as much of a shock when we got there,” Faatz said. “We were already used to hearing German all the time.” While speaking German on the trip wasn’t required, it was encouraged. “I have students who really make an effort to use German while they’re there and it’s phe- nomenal how much they are able to improve and what they Submitted McNary High School took 29 students to Germany on June 22-July 19 as part of an exchange program. are able to get from that,” said Mangan who was one of three chaperones along with Secor and Joseph Wehrli, superinten- dent for the St. Paul School District. “Even the students who don’t make that much of an effort, it’s phenomenal what they’re still picking up. There’s a great deal they’re learning while they’re there that’s going in and comes out later in class.” The McNary group went on day trips to Strasbourg, France and Rottenburg, Germany. “It was a fairy tale town,” Bomar said of Strasbourg. “I felt like I was right in the middle of the Snow White movie.” The Keizer students spent their fi nal fi ve days in Germany in Munich, staying in a youth hostel. They walked down the same street where in 1923 Adolph Hitler was arrested after try- ing to take over the Bavarian government, which resulted in him writing Mein Kampf. They toured the Dachau concentra- tion camp and Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for Dis- ney World. They saw the site of the 1972 Summer Olympics, in- cluding the memorial for the Israel athletes who were killed by Palestinian terrorists and viewed art at one of the old- est galleries in the world— Alte Pinakothek. “There’s certain things that are historically, culturally im- portant for the students to see, things that they’ll connect with, either they heard about in history, they’ll hear about or they’ll see these things later in life,” Mangan said. The McNary students that went on the trip were Bomar, Faatz, Seleste Barrera Ramirez, Mariah Boyd, Keith Car- doza, John Catron, Amy Cox, Amanda Deckard, Emily Gar- cia, Laura Gillespie, Mia Greer, Grant Harms, Kayla Jones, Jania Lopez, Luis Martinez-Reyes, Juan Miguel Montejano, Si- las Montgomery, Rose Nason, Angel Olmos, Katherine Perez, Isaiah Putnam, Gavin Robinett, Alexandria Ronning, Veronia Sarun, Joseph Seith, Levi Shel- $ don, Jospeh Vasquez, Garrett Wampler and Ethan Wheeler. 2 OFF 00 any box of peaches Jones Farm PRODUCE 5 Miles North of Keizer — 10325 River Rd NE LIKE US ON FACEBOOK Growing Fresh Local Fruits and Veggies for Five Generations HOURS: Mon – Fri: 9 to 7 • Sat – Sun: 9 to 5 Limit 3 boxes per customer/household. This coupon expires 9- 6-18. Sam Goesch Ins Agcy Inc Sam Goesch CLU, Agent 3975 River Road North Keizer, OR 97303 Bus: 503-393-6252 State Farm , Bloomington, IL 1211999
