West Lutheran Welcomes Foreign Exchange Students

West Lutheran High School in Plymouth is welcoming seven foreign exchange students to its school community this year.

The school will have students representing a wide range of countries including, Mexico, China, South Korea, Ghana and Azerbaijan (a country north of Iran). 

“It’s such a great cultural experience for everyone,” said West Lutheran Principal Merl Meitner. “Students that travel here get to experience American culture and in turn we get to learn about their culture and life abroad.”

The exchange students stay with local host families. Heather Terry’s family of five is hosting Zhou Yuning from China, who goes by the American name Nick.

“We’ve already learned that we have a bigger capacity to love and expand than we thought we had,” Terry said. “Nick and my son Cole are all already becoming friends and that has been the most enjoyable experience so far.”

While Cole is a sophomore and Nick is a senior, it’s a new setting for both students. 

“We started looking at private options for Cole and West Lutheran talked about hosting exchange students right from the start,” Terry said. 

Language isn’t a barrier for this family, since Nick speaks English. 

“He has expressed interest in learning our culture and tells us that it will help him be successful in China,” Terry said.

While the Christian centered school has always had a solid foreign exchange student program, Meitner said this is the biggest group the school has ever welcomed.

“The program really took off this year,” he said. “We’ve always had one or two exchange students, but this year quite a few host families came forward wanting to be part of the program.”

The school, which has about 160 students in its 9-12 grades, opened its doors in Plymouth about 15 years ago. Now the growing school is looking in to expanding the exchange student program.

“If the opportunities become available we think it would be great to expand it,” Meitner said. “We believe it’s an invaluable experience.”

The seven foreign exchange students are: Zhou Yuning (China), Tural Asadov (Azerbaijan), Jinjun Jiang (China), Mariama Owusu (Ghana), Victor Macedo Pineda (Mexico), Jun Han Kwon (South Korea) and Hak Yoon Yu (South Korea).

Three of the students arrived in time for the first day of school, which was Aug. 29. The others are trickling in and should all arrive by Labor Day weekend. All of the students will stay through the end of the school year.