Delaware Academy Hosts Students from Germany

Students and advisors from Wittekind Gymnasium in Lübbecke, Germany pose with their American hosts in front of the Delaware Academy high school building Thursday.

DELHI – Delaware Academy Central School at Delhi is hosting 13 students and their advisors from Wittekind Gymnasium (School) in Lübbecke, Germany this week. The group is staying with host families, learning about the community, region and American culture. The students are paired with Delaware Academy students, and have spent some time accompanying them to classes at the high school. They are also enjoying a number of field trips to local sites of interest, including Cooperstown, where they visited Fenimore Farm & Country Village (formerly the Farmer’s Museum), Clark Sports Center, and the village’s downtown area.  

The exchange was arranged by Delaware Academy German teacher Terrence Legg. Last fall, Legg and Delaware Academy School Counselor Matthew Albright took 11 Delaware Academy students to Germany, and this month’s visit completes the exchange. This is the 11th time Legg has taken students on the exchange trip. He had participated in a study abroad program in 1988 at Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany, and became friends with his host, Margaret Schmale. He contacted her in 2009 to help find host families for 10 DA students he planned to take to Germany. The next year, he connected with Silke Horst, an English Language teacher at Wittekind, and the trip became an exchange program. The exchanges have continued since then, with German students visiting Delhi and Delaware Academy students visiting Germany.