Seventeen high school students from Argentina descended upon St. Louis and had a great time experiencing life in the United States and at MICDS. The group, which included teacher chaperones from Instituto Albert Einstein (IAE), our sister school in Mar del Plata, Argentina, landed on Wednesday, September 17 and hit the ground running with a stop at Art Hill to stretch their legs on their way to The Foundry for lunch. A welcome meeting with cake and a visit with Head of School Jay Rainey led to a campus tour.
The visiting students were introduced at an Upper School Assembly and were able to attend many classes with their hosts. They even stopped by the Middle School to speak with the seventh and eighth-grade Spanish classes and our Global Perspectives history class.
The opportunity to cultivate friendships was at the top of Arissa Alpaslan’s ’27 list. She said, “One thing I enjoyed most about being a host for the Argentine visitors was the opportunity to cultivate friendships from different parts of the world and develop understanding for different cultures and perspectives. I would absolutely recommend this exchange program to others because of the language proficiency and cultural experience.”
Our guests enjoyed typical school days and field trips to the Cathedral Basilica, St. Louis Public Library stacks, the art galleries at the 21c Hotel, the City Museum, and City Garden. They enjoyed a magic show by our own Spanish Teacher Christopher Barker, experienced the craziness of a cardboard boat race in Polk Pond, and had the opportunity to watch an American football game when the Rams bested the Priory Ravens. Boys Swimming & Diving, Volleyball, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Girls Tennis, and Boys Soccer were also on the viewing menu. Their timing was perfect: they also experienced all the fun of an MICDS Homecoming!
Gwen Benson-Reschke ’27, one of the host students, said, “My family took our exchange student Cami to the Balloon Glow in Forest Park since it’s a really unique experience that St. Louis hosts! She absolutely loved it, and we had a great time taking pictures while watching the balloons inflate! My family and I also loved pushing her to try “classic American” foods when she was here. It was really funny to get her reviews of certain foods, or when she begged to go to Crumbl Cookie because she saw it on TikTok and really wanted to try it here!”
The Argentina exchange program began in 2012, and this is the sixth year that it has been conducted. It was canceled during the pandemic, but it typically occurs every other year. Our students visit our Argentine counterpart during spring break in March, and we host them in exchange during Spirit Week in September so that students can partake in the Homecoming festivities.
Maddy Brooks ’26 enjoyed introducing her exchange student to what everyday life is like in St. Louis. “It was so fun to take her to school and introduce her to all of my friends,” she said. “We also went to New York for the weekend, which was a great experience. I would highly recommend this exchange to anyone considering it. I feel as though it really brought me out of my comfort zone, and I made a lot of new friendships that I think will last a long time! It was so cool to learn about the similarities and differences between people my age in Argentina versus the United States. I got a lot out of this program.”
Upper School Spanish Teacher Kelly Weidenmiller said, “Taking students on an exchange trip is one of the most fulfilling things you can ever do as a language teacher – seeing them be fully immersed not only in language, but also in culture is life-changing for all students involved. On the flip side, receiving the students and teachers from Argentina is such an opportunity not only for them to experience iconic pieces of American culture during homecoming week, but also for our students to interact with native speakers in their Spanish classes and see that what they’re learning has helped them to better connect with peers from across the globe.”
Thank you to the following students and their families for hosting the exchange students:
- Arissa Alpaslan ’27
- Myra Arain ’27
- Gwen Benson-Reschke ’27
- Camilla Brauer ’28
- Caroline Brauer ’29
- Mia Brauer ’26
- Maddy Brooks ’26
- Carrie Clennan ’26
- Margot Crowley ’27
- Jace Felder ’27
- Audrey Marino ’26
- Taylor Nuzum ’26
- Elise Rataj ’26
- Kristiana Rogan ’28
- Shreeya Shelar ’28
- Sadie Small ’27
- London Troupe ’28
In addition to these students, Kurosh Campos ’27, Grace Griffin ’27, and Sophia Huffman ’28, who previously traveled to Argentina in the spring, were also involved in many of the group activities with the exchange students.