AYUSA In The News

Finally, Michigan is at the top of a good list.

The state ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for hosting the most high school foreign exchange students this school year, according to the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel, a nonprofit that sets standards for exchange programs for high school students.

Michigan has 2,177 students here for a semester or a year, according to CSIET data. For seven years, Michigan has ranked in the top three states with the most high school exchange students per school year.

Continue reading about exchange in Michigan here.

As I set foot on Pakistani soil once again and walked out of the same airport terminal from which I left almost a year ago, it finally dawned on me… it really was over! Until this point I couldn’t believe it. An exchange year in the US, which seemed as though it would never end at first, had passed.

While the joy of meeting my family again was overwhelming, I was hit with the realisation that life was going to change back to the way it was. The life of an American teen, with all its good and bad aspects, was something I had become habituated to.

As I went through mixed emotions and weird thoughts, I couldn’t help but reminisce all the incredible memories of those 10 months in the Unites States — a significant milestone in my life — that will never come back, and one that I’ll never be able to forget!

Continue reading here.

When Clemens Kaiser arrived in Rockville in August from his home in Pinneberg, Germany, the 17-year-old had one goal in mind — to set as many records in the pool as possible before he returned home at the end of the school year.

So far, so good as Richard Montgomery’s prized import has shattered the top times in program history while transforming the Rockets into a possible dark horse at the Montgomery County and Metros championships next month.

Kaiser’s journey to the United States began in 2008 when his German club team traveled from Pinneberg to its sister city of Rockville to train for two weeks. But Kaiser enjoyed his brief stay and the hospitality of his host family so much that he found a way to return the following year as a foreign exchange student.

“I had already been thinking about doing some form of exchange and then my host family asked if I’d like to come back to Rockville,” Kaiser said. “Since I already had the family situation set up, everything happened pretty quickly and it’s worked out really well. I already knew some of the swimmers on the team, so it was not like being pushed into cold water when you come to a completely new place, and I liked that.”

On a team loaded with freshmen and lacking in seniors, Kaiser has made an instant impact both in the pool and as a leader on the deck. His races alone fire up the team, but his talent and experience have enabled him to aid in coaching the team’s younger, non-club swimmers.

“I got an e-mail from his host family at the end of last school year letting me know they were going to have a foreign exchange student this year, but I had no idea he would make this kind of an impact on the team,” Richard Montgomery Coach Aryn Wheeler said. “He took a leadership role from the start, helping younger swimmers out by critiquing their strokes and helping with starts and turns. The kids really look up to him and they always get fired up watching him in the water.

After Saturday’s loss to Churchill, the Richard Montgomery boys fell to 0-3 in their first season of Division 1 competition. But the team has seen noticeable improvement and Kaiser continues to make waves at the top of the leader board. He won five of his six individual events in the three dual meets and helped the Rockets to victories in the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Kaiser has already set school records in the 100 (49.0), 200 (1:45.56) and 500 (4:42.50) free and the 200 IM (1:57.44) and against Churchill, he was a triple-winner, taking the 200 free, 100 back — an event Wheeler did not even know he could swim — and the 200 medley relay.

Records aside, Kaiser — who also swims with the Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club — has most enjoyed the experience of swimming with a team. His pool time has nearly doubled with nine practices a week compared to five with his German club, and while the competition can be intense at the club level back home, there are no high school swim teams and the atmosphere at meets is noticeably less spirited.

“It’s been pretty cool to experience this completely new system with high school teams,” Kaiser said. “High school sports have a lot of spirit and your teammates are always cheering you on. That’s totally different in the clubs in Germany because they’re more focused on their own times. Here every single person is standing and cheering for you, and that’s a good feeling to have when you’re swimming.”

With counties and Metros fast approaching, Kaiser has his sights set on leading the Rockets to a higher finish than last year in the former and qualifying for the A finals at the latter. And from what he has been told by teammates, the experience of the Metros meet is one he won’t soon forget.

“They told me it’s like a completely different meet,” Kaiser said. “There’s so much cheering and it’s super loud and everyone gets fired up and drops time. We want to set some more school records there and I’m really looking forward to it.”

When East Side resident Dennis Krantz used to think of Morocco, he thought of movies such as "Casablanca."

From now on, he and his family will think of 17-year-old Marouane Smaili and the 10 months that the Moroccan youth is living with them as part of a federally funded cultural exchange program.

(Moroccan exchange student Marouane Smaili has introduced the Krantz family to Moroccan cuisine, which is eaten from a communal plate. From left are Dennis Krantz, David Krantz, Smaili, Jenna Krantz and Susan Krantz. During his stay, Smaili is considered part of the Krantz family. )

Since coming to Tucson in August, Smaili has become very much a part of the family, host parents Dennis and Susan Krantz said. They also have two biological children -- Jenna, 13, and David, 15.

The Krantzes and Smaili sit down to family meals and talk about their day, relax by watching television shows such as "American Idol," go on vacations and attend church together, even though Smaili is a Muslim.

Some parts of the Krantzes' culture, such as singing in church, were new to Smaili, he said. And vice versa: The first time they sat down to eat a Moroccan meal, Smaili started eating with the serving spoon. In Morocco, he was accustomed to everyone eating from a communal plate, rather than serving the food onto individual plates.

When they have time to eat a Moroccan meal as a family, the Krantzes now eat the Moroccan way.

"This is the most fun thing we've learned," Dennis said last week during such a dinner.

Cultural exchange is a fundamental part of the Youth Exchange and Study Program, the U.S. Department of State program through which more than 700 high school students from predominantly Muslim nations are currently studying in the United States.

Smaili's native country is 98.7 percent Muslim, according to the CIA's World Factbook.

He is one of five Youth Exchange and Study Program students in Arizona, according to AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, a non-profit organization that has helped administer the program since 2003.

"The idea is that they experience America," said David Beiser, AYUSA's Youth Exchange and Study Program director.

Since coming to the United States, Smaili and the Krantzes have gone with other exchange students and host families on a weekend trip to Disneyland and have visited the Grand Canyon. He's also been to Washington, D.C. And in turn, Smaili has taught Americans -- the Krantzes and people outside his host family -- about his homeland. He gave a presentation about Morocco to the youth group he attends at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 8051 E. Broadway.

Part of the American experience is that, although we're a diverse country, we're one nation, Beiser said. "That's a message we try to communicate on a worldwide scale."

The program also aims to encourage thinking with an open mind, along with the concept of volunteering and community service, Beiser said.

Smaili volunteers at St. Paul's and has helped carry equipment for the marching band at Santa Rita High School, 3951 S. Pantano Road -- where both he and his host brother, David Krantz, go to school. Smaili is a senior and Krantz is a sophomore.

He will go back to Morocco in June, but it won't mean the end of his international travels. After he finishes his last year of secondary school in Morocco, he's considering going to an American university and plans to eventually become an international businessman.

Contact reporter Danielle Sottosanti at 618-1922 or at dsottosanti@azstarnet.com.

A new outlook from Moroccan exchange student Marouane Smaili's perspective:

Five misconceptions people have about Morocco and Islam:

1. The religion is very strict and based on violence.
2. The culture is strict.
3. The people are closed-minded.
4. Only people of the African race live in Morocco.
5. The country doesn't have technology such as cell phones and the Internet.

Five things he learned about the United States that he didn't know:

1. The culture is diverse, interesting and simply fun to learn about.
2. People are open-minded, sociable and respectful.
3. The educational system is very interesting with a lot of freedom -- elective classes -- and cool activities.
4. There is a full mix of cultures and races.
5. There is a cultural mix of food and ways of cooking. 

For more information on the program:

• Youth Exchange and Study Program: www.yesprograms.org
• U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: http://exchanges.state.gov/
• AYUSA Global Youth Exchange: To learn more about becoming a host family through AYUSA, go online to www.ayusa.org or call 1-888-552-9872.