Since 1997, San Marcos High School has offered a unique opportunity for students of German: the chance to travel to Germany for a multi-week immersion stay. Students participating have the chance to apply the skills they have learned in class while they are surrounded by the German culture and language. During their stay in Germany, students experience home-life while living with a host family, o
bserve and interact with other teenagers at SMHS’s partner school (Oberland-Gymnasium) in Seifhennersdorf, Germany, and also make excursions to major European cities, like Berlin, Munich and Prag. Additionally, the student’s partner comes to San Marcos the following October to experience life as an American teenager. The program, the German-American Partnership Program (GAPP) is supported by both the German and American governments, and has been sponsoring exchanges between German and American secondary schools since 1972. There are currently more than 800 exchanges, and more than 300,000 students have participated in a GAPP exchange since 1972. Due to the design of the exchange, and the fact that students stay with host families, the cost is considerably less than commercial tours or other educational exchanges; however, costs are still incurred, such as the flight and other travel expenses. While students are abroad, they are seen as ambassadors for SMHS and San Marcos, and a high level of responsibility and maturity is expected from all participants. Since 1997, there have been 9 exchanges (counting this current year) with 112 SMHS participants.
