Courtesy of Brad Reeves
Separated by more than 4,000 miles, an unlikely international friendship is thriving. Students from Grove City High School and Max-Planck-Gymnasium, a high school in Heidenheim, Germany, have participated in an exchange program since 1984.
“I went to Grove City High School and I was in the (German) exchange program as a student,” says Brad Reeves, a 2002 GCHS graduate and current German teacher. “As a teacher, it was always a goal of mine to get back to my alma mater.”
And he did. In 2017, Reeves was hired by GCHS and now heads up the school’s German exchange program, which he describes as the longest continuously running exchange program in the United States until COVID-19 put a temporary halt on it.
In a typical year, approximately seven to 11 GCHS students, and 20 to 24 Max-Planck students participate. The German exchange program is reserved for GCHS juniors and seniors who have taken at least three years of German language classes.
“It’s really kind of like, ‘OK, you put in that work with an effort to learn the language. Now, let’s go over (there) and see what you can do with it,’” says Rich Bartholomew, the other German teacher at GCHS.
The way the exchange works is simple: First, in the spring, GCHS hosts Max-Planck students for three weeks.
Then, after the American school year has finished, GCHS students travel to Heidenheim for three weeks.
“There’s so much to see for so many different students,” says Reeves. “It doesn’t matter what you’re into. You will always find something in Heidenheim or in the surrounding areas that you can connect with whether it’s art or music, cars, food.”
Some of the attractions include a tour of the Steiff factory, which produced the first teddy bear-style toys; visits to Stuttgart, the home of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz; and walking the historic streets of Munich and Frankfurt.
Bartholomew remembers taking the students to see part of the Berlin Wall in 2018. One student’s reaction stuck with him.
“He stops there as we get off the bus and in this thoroughly awestruck voice goes, ‘We were learning about this in class, like, this is real. And it’s all there,’” says Bartholomew, “and that was just fun to see that connection for them, everything come together.”
Courtesy of Brad Reeves
GCHS students in Germany during the 2019 exchange.
Reeves says there are a number of learning opportunities and culture shocks the GCHS students experience during their time in Heidenheim.
“If there’s someone like me – and it’s a selfish, American thing – in Germany, they don’t have stuff that’s open 24 hours, and I’m like, ‘It’s 2 a.m., I want a burger right now,’” Reeves says, laughing.
What the Max-Planck students are surprised by, however, is the landscape of Columbus.
“It’s always fun when we’re leaving the airport and we’re driving through downtown (Columbus) because they don’t have a lot of skyscrapers in Germany,” says Reeves, “especially nothing near where they live. The closest skyscrapers to them are in Frankfurt, and that’s a five-hour drive away.”
Grove City host students and families are encouraged to bring the German visitors along on their typical day-to-day schedules, including activities like going to school dances and high school baseball games.
“The big thing kids do when here is prom,” says Reeves. “This blows their minds because they think TV and movies are fake, but then prom happens and they’re gobsmacked.”
Despite the differences between the two cities, there are many similarities, too.
“Heidenheim – it’s a cool, big little city, or little big city,” says Reeves. “The populations (of Grove City and Heidenheim) are similar.”
Lasting Relationship
Courtesy of Brad Reeves
Reeves, left, with his original German exchange partner, Christian Banzhaf, right.
The best part about the exchange program isn’t the sightseeing, nor is it the food – it’s the relationships.
“I am still in touch with my exchange partner that I had in high school,” says Reeves. “He still lives in the same city. … He went to university at a different city and he met his wife at a different city and all that, but he ended up coming back to his home town. I got to visit him in 2019 when I chaperoned the (GCHS German exchange) trip.”
Unfortunately, that in-person exchange could not happen during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions. But it didn’t hold Reeves or Bartholomew back for long.
Working with their partner school, Reeves and Bartholomew put together a curriculum that would allow a partnership between students for the 2020-21 school year. Students recorded conversations with their exchange partners, which centered on topics like school, home life and extracurricular activities.
“I could tell from the beginning to the end of the recording that they just come from a real conversation with their partner,” says Bartholomew. “That’s the whole point of the exchange is for them to be able to reach out and make a friendship. Even with the pandemic, they’re still able to do that.”
This year, Reeves and Bartholomew are hoping the exchange can happen in person once again.
After all, the type of learning that takes place during an exchange program is considerably different than what students learn in schools.
“I think one of the most important things for high schoolers to learn is the old adage: ‘learning how to learn,’” says Bartholomew. “A language class is very unique in that regard – we teach them a skill that they can actually go and do something with.”
Courtesy of Brad Reeves
Reeves, center, and other GCHS students on his first trip to Germany more than 20 years ago.
Sarah Robinson is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
