Contributed by Zietz, Germany, Sister City Partners
In October 2013, a group of eight students and two chaperones from Zeitz, Germany, ventured west across the Atlantic Ocean to visit Prescott. This was the start of the student exchange between two schools in the Prescott area and four schools in Zeitz.
The exchange was aimed at intensifying the relationship between the two sister cities established in 2012.
“The exchange program has become a real success story,” says Rainer Ecker, Exchange Coordinator at Christophorusschule Droyssig and a 2013 chaperone. “The student exchange has given the sister city project a lot of momentum.”
Holger Schmidt, principal of Schwanenteichschule Zeitz, adds: “About 60 U.S. and 70 German students and chaperones have participated so far and none of them has regretted having been so adventurous to cross the Atlantic. Long-standing friendships between students, chaperones and their host families have developed including mutual visits.” His point of view is supported by the exchange coordinators of Geschwister-Scholl-Schule and Sekundarschule II in Zeitz.
The sixth exchange cycle starts in June 2019 when another group of students from Prescott High School and Bradshaw Mountain High School is set to visit their partners in Zeitz. The Zeitz students will visit Prescott in October.
Students will live with host families and experience everyday life, school life and the culture and sights of the Prescott and Zeitz regions as well as practice their foreign language skills.
To become a member of the Prescott-Zeitz Sister City Association, contact Chris Kuknyo, board vhair at chriskprescott@gmail.com. To be a host family, you must be a parent of a student at either Prescott High School or Bradshaw Mountain High School in Prescott Valley. German students are matched up with local high school students based on age and gender. Contact the principal at either high school for more information or to pick up an application.
