St. John sees rise in foreign exchange students in class

St. John/Endicott High School has a bumper crop of foreign exchange students enrolled this year. Six students from around the world are residing in St. John or Endicott homes and attending class at the St. John high school.

The 90-student school typically hosts two or three students a year, said Superintendent Rick Winters. Successes of families who have previously hosted exchange students could be the reason more families are participating this year, Winters said.

“You know how things can snowball in a positive way sometimes. That’s what happened here,” Winters said.

Winters said local families could also have been inspired by the late Irv Bailey. He and his wife, JoAnne, adopted six children from China who now attend school in St. John. Mr. Bailey died in a harvest accident in August.

Pauline Breitling from Germany, Vincent Chen from Taiwan and Miguel Pineda from Spain are attending SJE as sophomores. Caio Martin, a junior, comes from Brazil. Two seniors are Thomas Wu from China and Mattia Tedde from Italy.

School cook Lorraine Salzman and her husband Steve are hosting Martin and Chen at their home in Endicott.

The culture clash has been a wonder to witness, Lorraine said.

Both students speak English, but the language barrier still stands.

For example, Chen poured himself a glass of what appeared to be lemonade and took a big sip- only to find out it was straight lemon juice. Caio bit into a dill pickle, having never tasted one before.

“He made the most horrible face when he took a bite of a dill pickle, because he’d never had it before,” said Salzman.

The only holdup so far in housing the students is their concept of time, she said. Twice, they have missed their bus home.

“That’s been the biggest adjustment, getting them to realize they have to meet deadlines,” Salzman said. She noted they don’t get paid to house the students.

The state each year compensates a district for each student enrolled, but St. John High School Principal Rob Roettger pointed out they aren’t trying to “pad” their school budget.

“We don’t set out looking for numbers to boost enrollment. The agencies [study abroad] will call trying to place kids,” Roettger said. He added the students often do well in the public school system, despite the often dramatic shift in cultures.

“This year we have Taiwan, Germany, Spain, Brazil, China and Italy,” he said.