Eight area families are currently hosting visitors from France and Switzerland as part of an International Student Exchange (ISE) program.
The families of Drayton Grade 9 students Vanessa Koepke and Ireland Jenner are hosting, respectively, French visitors Guillenette Zeller and Chloe Le Gavrian, who are attending Norwell District Secondary School during their exchange, which runs until November. Vanessa and Ireland have already spent time in France with their exchange partners last spring.
Vanessa said she really enjoyed the experience. She was impressed with a strong emphasis on healthy living among the residents of that country.
“They’ve very active. We did a lot of 25- kilometre walks and they eat very, very, very healthy,” she noted.
Attending Grade 8 at Drayton Heights Public School as part of a two-month exchange are Raphael Lina, and Baptiste Picard of France. Raphael is staying with the family of Ty Vogel, while Baptiste’s exchange partner is Darnell Holland.
Four of the visitors are attending Grade 11 at Norwell. Staying with the families of Michael McHarg of Drayton and Morgan Mitchell of the Moorefield area, respectively, are Arthur Aurick of France and Kenza Vionnet of Switzerland. Swiss visitor Beatriz Alvarea Restropo is being hosted by the family of Becca Hardie of Palmerston and Justine Lepeule of France is staying with the family of Charlene Weppler of Harriston.
Upon arrival in Ontario last month, the visiting students were taken on a sight-seeing excursion.
In Niagara the students enjoyed the White Water Walk, a Maid of the Mist boat ride and a ride up the Skylon Tower, as well as the movie Legends and Daredevils at the Niagara Imax theatre. In Toronto they took a bus tour of the downtown area, and went up the CN Tower.
Welcoming community
“Everyone here is very nice and welcoming,” said Justine Lepevile, who was impressed with the wide open spaces in this rural part of Ontario, compared to her home in France.
“I think things are very different. Everything is big here.”
ISE Ontario offers educational exchange programs for Ontario elementary and secondary students. The programs provide the opportunity for students to discover and explore other countries and cultures and improve or develop new language skills.
