LTHS Foreign Exchange Student Wins Big At Badminton

LOCKPORT, IL — In addition to attending school and living in a new place, Lockport Township High School foreign exchange student Graciela Muggler Martin also had a very successful badminton season.

Badminton Coach Hannah Walus told Patch that Graciela and her partner Angelina Dinh got first place at sectionals. Lockport also won as a team at sectionals.

"For the state finals, Graciela and Angelina were seeded in the top 10 and ended up placing in the top 8 out of 64 doubles teams that made it downstate," Walus said. "They played incredibly well!"

Other state qualifiers included doubles team Anja Klauser and Sophia Mizera and singles player Laura Lee.

Graciela, a junior at LTHS, is a foreign exchange student from the Canary Islands, her host mom Laura Wilken told Patch.

Wilken said Graciela has been studying at LTHS since August and is hosted through the Council for Educational Travel USA (CETUSA).

Wilken, a former foreign exchange student herself, said she treasured her own experience and wanted to offer that experience for her own daughter.

"We are enjoying it so much we are hosting two exchange students next year, and I even applied to work with the company because I hoped to help provide the experience and opportunities to other families and students as well," Wilken said.

Wilken featured Graciela in a recent star student post on Patch, sharing, "Gracie has lived with me since August. She has studied very hard to obtain excellent grades in a language that is not her native tongue. She has done this while creating a new life with my family, building lasting friendships with classmates and competing in three sports throughout the year."

Wilken added that if anyone is interested in being a host family for a foreign exchange student, you can email laura.cetusa@gmail.com.