Rock Island HS GAPP Exchange

08/12/2026

🚨🚨 HOST FAMILIES NEEDED! 🚨🚨

We are looking for 10 families to host exchange students from our German partner school. They will be visiting Rock Island for two weeks this fall (Oct. 22 - Nov. 4). Ideally, each family would have a student who attends RIHS, but that is not a requirement. Please share with anyone you know who may be interested!
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07/02/2026

We wrapped up our 2026 GAPP trip with 3 wonderful and busy days in Germany's capital city. Being in Berlin is such a unique experience for our students. It's complicated history, breathtaking architecture, countless museums, and alternative vibe all make it a must-see destination. The group covered A LOT of ground in a short time. Listed below is what we were able to see, with some photographic evidence! 🇩🇪❤️🇺🇸

TV Tower
Red City Hall
Berlin Cathedral
Reichstag Building Rooftop Terrace
Brandenburg Gate
Charlottenburg Palace
Potsdamer Platz
Hitler's Bunker Sign
German Bundesrat Building
Berlin Wall Memorial Walking Tour
Checkpoint Charlie
East Side Gallery
Stasi Museum
DDR Museum

06/28/2026

What does student exchange mean to me, and why am I so passionate about our program? The answer is forming lifelong relationships with the host families and friends that you meet along the way. The initial connection is just the beginning.

It is an opportunity to learn a new language and to gain a better understanding of a different culture, and that is wonderful. But it's also about fostering and nurturing the relationships with the people who embraced you and supported you in these efforts.

I spent my senior year of high school (1999-2000) as an exchange student in Schwalbach am Taunus (near Frankfurt). During that year, I lived with a wonderful host family and made some awesome friends. Everytime we are here for the exchange, I take a weekend to visit them.

This weekend, now 27 years after that initial connection, I visited my host mom (Alexandra), her daughter Andrea (who spent that year as an exchange student in the US) and her three kids, Anne and Julie (my two best friends from my exchange school), Anne's boyfriend Timo, Julie's husband Paul, and their 6 1/2 month-old baby girl.

We shared meals, stories, ate cake and Tiramisu, played in a kiddie pool, looked at old pictures (real ones from when you had to wait and go pick them up 😃), reminisced about that year and our visits over the years, planned our next visit, and just enjoyed being together. It is these continuing connections and times with people who have become a lifelong chosen family for me that inspires me to provide the same opportunity for our students through our GAPP exchange program, and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
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06/23/2026

German word of the day = Hitzefrei

"Hitzefrei", literally "Heat + Free", means that classes are cancelled due to excessive heat. The high temperatures in Rottenburg have been consistently in the 90s during our stay here, and this weekend it will most likely be around 100 degrees.

This is the main office bulletin board at our partner school, announcing that all afternoon classes for grades 5-9 are cancelled for the afternoon. Please send cooling thoughts to us! 🥵☀️🔥

06/23/2026

Today, our students shared their presentations with various classes at our GAPP partner school, St. Meinrad Gymnasium. This part of our exchange allows students to from both schools to compare and contrast daily life in the US and Germany.

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06/22/2026

06/21/2026

What is GAPP?

"GAPP" stands for "German-American Partnership Program", it was founded in 1972, and its goals are to "promote intercultural understanding, language instruction, and lifelong global ties among high school students".

How does GAPP work?

US and German schools are paired up for sustainable, long-term relationships that involve reciprocal student exchanges between them.

How does GAPP support their exchanges?

GAPP distributes grants to participating schools, assists teachers in starting and maintaining their exchanges, provides logistical support and encourages trip themes, projects and student-created presentations that are a shared effort between partner schools, and promotes each exchange and encourages new partnerships.

What are some facts about our partnership with Rottenburg's Saint Meinrad Gymnasium?

-Established in 2002

-11 reciprocal exchange trips

-Collaborated with Moline and Davenport Schools

-116 total participants from Rock Island (2004- ), Moline (2004-2012), Davenport (2014-2018)

What is Rock Island - Rottenburg's shared theme?

In addition to attending each other's schools and sharing student-made presentations, we focus on the history of various settlements in each region.

We're so proud or our program and the families who have made it possible!

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06/21/2026

On Friday, the group was given a guided tour of the Rottenburg Narrenzunft museum. Rottenburg am Neckar has one of the most well-known German pre-lenten celebrations, called "Fasnet" in this region. Clemens Fuchs is the president of the organization, and he personally gave us the tour.

Our students learned about the history, important figures, clubs and costumes, traditional dances and parade hijinx, and also about last year's 100-year anniversary celebration. They even got to try on the masks and dance with the bells around their necks. It was a lighthearted and educational way to end our first week in our Swabian partner town.

The weather here is in the 90s, and will continue to be for the next week. We're trying to stay cool any way we can, so we immediately went for an ice cream after our tour!

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06/21/2026

This past Thursday, both the American and German students visited Stuttgart for the day. Our two main stops were the Mercedes-Benz museum and the TV tower.

Stuttgart's TV tower is the first of its kind in the world, and it's turning 70 this year. We even got to go down into the basement and learn about how it was built.
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06/17/2026

Today's highlight was making homemade pretzel dough and then shaping and baking it with our German partner students. One of the teachers at St. Meinrad prepared a lesson on the origin of the Swabian pretzel and helped us make them. Caleb especially impressed the group with his expertise!

Check out the link for the complete origin story of the Swabian pretzel!

https://www.thetraveldesignersgermany.com/be-inspired.the-history-of-pretzel.html
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