HELENA — Former and current exchange students, and many others, gathered in Helena Friday afternoon to celebrate the E.F. High School Exchange Program.
Foreign exchange students from all over the state gathered for the event, some traveling from as far as North Dakota to take part in the celebration of cultural unity.
Deborah Miller, the program’s regional coordinator, spoke to the students and parents of E.F., along with Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins and his wife, Maddie Collins.
The Collins’ shared their own private and personal experiences with foreign exchange programs and the inspiring and influential impact it had on their lives as refugees from West Africa.
Students from all over the globe shared why their experience in Big Sky Country is so enjoyable.
Luna Van Den Huevel, 17 years old and from the Netherlands, and Maja Lindeberg, 18 years old and from Sweden, are current E.F. exchange students living in Montana.
Van Den Huevel shared with MTN her most favorable activity to do since she arrived to Big Sky Country, saying, “Spending time playing games…school is very fun, too.”
E.F. is a global and non-profit organization with headquarters in Cambridge, MA, and has been promoting the importance of multicultural experiences in youth for over 40 years.
-Reported by Christine Sullivan/MTN News
