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German exchange students visit Cloquet High School; hosts, guests praise cultural program
Summary
Fifteen German exchange students are visiting Cloquet for three weeks and are hosted by district families; guests and host coordinator thanked the board for supporting the long-running exchange program.
Representatives of the Cloquet High School German exchange program visited the school board Sept. 22 to thank trustees for supporting a long-running student exchange and to share highlights from the visit.
Cara, the exchange coordinator, told the board the German group arrived Sept. 7 and is staying with roughly 15 host families; Cara said 17 families are officially tied to the exchange because some host families will not travel in the outbound year or participate in the return trip. "They're staying with 15 families in the district and there's actually 17 families involved," she said.
Guests from the partner school in Germany — who identified themselves as Yulia Gilga and Yuta Shvoda from the partner town of "Filling in" — addressed the board through a translator and expressed gratitude. One guest said, "we would like to thank you, the school board for making this amazing experience, possible. ... it's more than a trip or practicing language. It's ... a once in a lifetime experience for our German students to be here for 3 weeks." The visitors described outings including a district "Cloquet day," a trip to Duluth and a whitewater-rafting excursion.
Cara and the visitors said the program reestablished its prior two-year cycle after disruptions during the COVID pandemic: the visiting German students come in September and the district’s students travel to Germany in June. The visiting students leave in four days, and Cloquet students are scheduled to travel June 8–30 on the next outbound trip.
Why it matters: The exchange has run for roughly 30 years, the guests said, and board support enables cross-cultural experiences for students and host families. Board members praised the program and several recounted personal host-family experiences.
Next steps: The district will host the remainder of the exchange visit and prepare for the outbound travel of Cloquet students in June 2026 under the restored two-year cycle.
