Category: Exchange Students

Meet Lennard, the Hartford Rotary exchange student for the 2019-2020 school year. He is from the city of Plauen Germany, in the state of Saxony.

Lennard arrived in Hartford late August,  just in time to start school at Hartford Union High School and will be staying until mid- summer 2020.

At home in Germany, he has ventured away from his mom, Odette,  dad , Udo and his little sister Florentine. Lennard’s father owns and operates a hotel and restaurant in their home town and his mother is a secretary. Lennard is also away from his favorite cat, Sammy. In Germany, he has studied English, Spanish, Latin, math and biology. His favorite classes are history, English and art.

Lennard has had the opportunity to travel to Italy, Spain, France and Egypt on summer trips with his family. His favorite activity is downhill skiing and he takes an annual trip to Austria with his family to enjoy the snow in the Alps. He also has a keen interest in computers, especially virtual reality applications.

Once he finishes high school, Lennard hopes to go to college in the USA and is considering a career in IT or journalism.

Currently, Lennard is living with his first of 3 host families in Hartford. He is fortunate to have 3 host brothers and 1 host sister, although one of the brothers is off at college, which left room for Lennard to find a place to sleep.

Other than the academic courses at the high school, Lennard is also in the chorus and joined the ski team. Lennard landed a part in the cast of the fall musical, “Shrek”, at HUHS and will be playing the part of Baby Shrek.

When asked about his interests, other than skiing, he said, “I have a thirst for information that kicks in as I find interest in a topic, especially historical and political subjects.” As far as particular dislikes he says “the only thing I can think of is spiders, which I do not get along with”

After spending about 8 months with his first two host families, Lennard will spend his last 3-4 months with a 3^rd family. We are currently searching for a volunteer family to host Lennard from April through his departure in July 2020. If your family is interested in exploring this unique opportunity, please contact Mark Lindborg, the Hartford Rotary Exchange Director, at 262-689-7960 or drmlindborg@gmail.com

Hartford Rotary’s Inbound Rotary Exchange Student for the 2017-18 school year is 16-year-old Faza from Surabaya, Indonesia.

Faza arrived here September 3rd, after a day-and-a-half of flights from Indonesia, Tokyo, and Dallas. He will be with us, and a student at Hartford Union High School, until mid- to late-summer 2018.

Faza’s first family lives on the north side of Hartford. He has one host sister Addison, and an older brother Asher, a student at UW-Madison.  Right around Christmas, Faza will move to be with his second host family who live in the Town of Rubicon. Faza will also have a senior “sister” Kylie at his second host family so Faza is fortunate to have sisters to help with his transportation needs.

Rotary exchange students often spend time with three families, so another potential volunteer host family is sought for the period beginning late in March well into summer when Faza will have a chance to take a bus tour with other Inbound Rotary Exchange Students from the Midwest to a number of different destinations throughout the U.S.

Interested host families for late spring are asked to contact any of three Hartford Rotarians:  Scott Helms at HUHS (262-670-3228), John Spielmann (262-224-0770) or Ron Schlitt (262-689-9903).  The initial contact does not constitute a commitment, only interest in pursuing a Host Family opportunity but without any financial involvement in a Rotary Summer Tour.

Faza arrived in the U.S. with a good grasp of American English gained in part from watching U.S. movies on TV.  He soon will be super-fluent. He also is adept at computer games and is looking forward to being involved in Robotics Competition at the high school. He would later like to be involved in computer programming at the university level.

Faza is an only child of a single mother working for the Customs Department of the Indonesian Government. In Indonesia he lived only 200 yards from his school, so being miles from school with other teenagers in the home are exciting new opportunities for Faza. He also is adept at card tricks, and enjoys soccer and being involved with other students attending extra-curricular events. His school schedule includes courses in Intro to Engineering, Marketing, Modern American History, Computer Science, Astronomy, Algebra 2, and Minorities and Prejudice.

I’m Tomas I was born in La Plata, Argentina. The city where I live is called Chivilcoy and it’s around 90 thousand of population. The bigger difference between my city and Hartford is the temperature, our winter is around 45 degrees when in Hartford is around 20 degrees.

About my family: I have divorced parents that I love so much and each of them have a new relationship. My dad Claudio has another wife and together they have a little daughter who I have the pleasure to call my little sister Sofia who is 5 years old. My dad is an architect and he has his own architecture study. The wife of my dad also has 2 kids which are my step brother Tomas and my step sister Valentina who was and exchange student in Cody, Wyoming.

My mum Andrea is also an architect who works in the municipality of my city and she has a really cool boyfriend who is like a father for me. My mum and I live in a house in the middle of the city and we love each other. Recently my mum came to visit me with her sister Lilian, my aunt. We went to New York and Chicago and we had a good time.

In Argentina I go to a small school of 800 people which is called Misericordia. I decided be an exchange student because I had the pleasure to host a guy from Germany and I discovered how many opportunities I can have being a young person, so I decided sing up for Rotary and then my life changed, a lot of friends from the world and a new home in Hartford with a lot of friends and cool people

My goals for my future is go to college in Argentina and make another exchange year in a country of Europe, I didn’t decide what I want to study but I have couple of ideas related with music, cinema or animation.

Our Outbound Exchange Student, Kristin, is from Rubicon. She has a keen interest in travel and looks upon the student exchange program as an opportunity to meet new people, experience a new culture, and learn a new language. Kristin wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country. She will be living next year in Seville, Spain, which is located about 40 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea.  Se went through several extensive interviews and orientation programs in order to be accepted as an Outbound Exchange student. She will be leaving for Spain on September 3rd. Her first day of school is September 15th. When she returns next year, Kristin will give another presentation to the club on her experiences in Spain.

Welcome to our Inbound Exchange Student Maria Luisa! The Hartford Rotary Club is pleased to have Maria Luisa as our exchange student for the 2014-15 school year. She joins us from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her nickname is Malu (by which she prefers to be called). Maria Luisa loves music—she has played the classical guitar since she was 12 years old. In Brazil, she is a student at FUNDEC Sorocaba, an institution of music and theater. Her trip to the United States is her first time traveling outside of Brazil. She loves dogs and is proud of her ability to speak a second language fluently. After high school she wants to attend college to study medicine. She looks forward to this year as an opportunity to meet other people, experience other cultures, and grow as an individual—she wants to make a difference.

The Hartford Rotary Club is still looking for a host family for Maria Luisa for the second semester. We are also looking for host families for the 2015-16 school year. If you’re interested in hosting, or for more information please contact Brenda Johnston at Brenda@SchauerCenter.org or 262-670-0560 ext. 202.

Welcome David! The Hartford Rotary Club is pleased to have David as our exchange student for the 2013-14 school year. David joins us from France. He speaks French, English and Italian. He has done another study abroad program in Busto Arzitio, Italy. David enjoys listening to music (his favorite song is “Where is My Mind” from Fight Club—his favorite movie), watching movies, running and biking. He is most looking forward to becoming fluent in English this year, losing his accent when he speaks English, figuring out how the American society works and visiting many of our cities, especially Chicago. After his year with us, David will return for another year of high school and then he plans to study literature in Aix.

Welcome Marek! The Hartford Rotary Club is pleased have Marek as our exchange student for the 2012-2013 school year. Marek is a friendly, humorous and athletic young man. His favorite sports are soccer and tennis. Back home Marek plays the bass tuba, studied Spanish and is a leader in his local Scouts club (similar to Cub Scouts). Through this club, Marek has developed an adventurous, open mind and dislikes those who are quick to judge another before getting to know a person. Marek is ecstatic to learn another foreign language, experience a new culture and create life-long friendships. After his year in Wisconsin, Marek plans to finish his studies and eventually inherit his father’s Beekeeping business.  Marek hopes to return home a year from now not only with his luggage, but with memorable and valuable experiences to further develop his character and more knowledgeable about the world.