Exchange Students are Always Welcome

-  Tessa Cutting

            Afton Central School has been welcoming students of different nationalities into its halls for decades.  Both the exchange student and Afton’s young adults can learn from each other that children from other countries aren’t much different than themselves.  

            This year Afton is hosting three exchange students from three different continents.  The first student is Dorina who hails from a city with a half million people, Bremen, Germany.  Dorina participates in many of Afton’s athletic teams.  She started the year on the field hockey team, and is currently on the basketball team.  Jean is Afton’s exchange student from Loja, Ecuador which has a population of about 200,000.  He participates on the mock trial team in Afton.  The third student, Liyan, is from China. She is very active in our church community. 

            An exchange program CAN change people’s lives. It is hoped these kids will go home with marvelous stories about our little town of Afton.  I also hope that they will grow to love this town as much as we all do.    

(This article from page 4, Winter 2013 issue, The Afton Vision)