Exchange programs foster cultural exchange, new connections, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities – but only if enough families agree to host.
This year, the Japanese exchange program at the high school struggled to find enough host families for students travelling from Takatori Kokusai High School in Japan. Requests for an additional six host families remained on the daily morning announcements as late as March 3, five days before the exchange trip was scheduled to begin.
The exchange trip occurred March 8-21. The biannual Japanese exchange trip began in 1988 at the high school. This year, 19 students and two teachers from Japan participated in the exchange. Social studies teacher Andrew Glasier, supervisor for the Takatori exchange, said that these are typical numbers for the program. Nineteen Shaker Heights families hosted students.
Since 1978, the high school has been involved in exchange programs in nations including Germany, France and Japan. Students also have opportunities to travel through service trips. International trips are also offered through the choir, band and orchestra programs.
This year, exchanges to Germany, Japan and Chile will occur while international trips to Thailand, Austria, the Czech Republic and southern Germany are also available to students.
The exchanges to Japan and Germany will occur during students’ summer break while the exchange to Chile and the international trips occurred during spring break.
Glasier said that the amount of additional trips occurring this year made it difficult to find host families. “So many students who typically host are on the band trip or the Thailand trip. They’re all leaving early, so a lot of people couldn’t host,” Glasier said. “Typically we get host families a lot sooner than we did this year.”
The band and Thailand trips this year departed March 18, while the Japanese students returned home March 21.
Sophomore Maks Waldorff hosted 17-year-old Japanese student Mayu. “I believe the reason for the lack of host families is the lack of a Japanese language class or club at Shaker Heights High School, which would generate a much larger interest in hosting the exchange program,” he said.
In order to recruit American participants in the exchange despite the lack of a Japanese class or club, Glasier said he talks to Asian Studies students. After that, if there are still not enough students participating, the program recruits from sources such as Glasier’s history classes and other world language classes. If at that point there is still a lack of interest, Glasier said the program recruits in all classes in the school.
This year, to supplement these strategies, Glasier said the Japanese program began recruiting families from the PTO in order to find host families for Japanese students.
“In terms of the lack of host families participating in the exchange, I would say one big part of it is not just lack of awareness, but also because only 13 students from Shaker will be going to Japan. That decreases the amount most likely to apply to host,” said sophomore Bach Melman, who hosted a student named Yu.
“I am not entirely surprised, because less students from Shaker are going to Japan, that number of hosting families will automatically go down, so overall it’s unfortunate but not surprising,” Melman said.
Waldorff said that he was disappointed by the lack of willing host families. “On one hand, I am glad that there are so many Japanese students who want to explore Shaker Heights and Ohio; but I am also unhappy with the lack of families willing to volunteer,” Waldorff said.
Similarly, the French exchange program to Rouen, France struggled to maintain its exchange, having to cancel its trip to France for spring break of 2026 when not enough students from Shaker Heights signed up to go, according to French and German teacher Andrea Bradd.
According to French teacher Brook Benko, only four or five students began the application process before Oct. 1, the date when the sister school in Rouen needed information about the number of students traveling to France. Benko said the program needed 15 or 16 students in order to attend. However, the French program was able to find enough Shaker families to host French students in the fall of 2025.
Administrative Assistant Miriam Neil, who works closely with exchange programs at the high school, said the main reason the program could not get enough students to sign up for the France trip was due to a lack of teacher continuity. “We had two years of subs or new teachers, and the subs should have been drumming up the exchange,” she said.
“It [the exchange] was not officially approved until August, and it was my first year. By August a lot of students had already enrolled on the band trip or for Thailand,” Benko said.
Benko hopes that the French program will find enough students for the trip during spring break of 2027. “Right now we are in the process of getting information out to students and families for going during spring break next year. Since we already have our official approval, we have more time to work with,” she said.
Spanish teacher Kimberly Ponce de Leon currently runs the Spanish program’s exchange with Thomas Jefferson School in Concepcion, Chile. According to Ponce de Leon, the Spanish exchange program offers a long-term and short-term exchange. Students on the short-term exchange travel to Chile during spring break, while students on the long-term exchange travel during summer break.
“It has always been difficult to find hosts and travelers. Engaging in an exchange with a stranger is like a ‘cold call’ in business. You don’t know anything about the other person. Throw in the fact that you don’t even know if you will be able to communicate with them because of the language barrier, and sometimes the prospect does not look that desirable,” Ponce de Leon said.
Ponce de Leon said prior commitments hinder student participation in exchange programs. “Other obstacles are how busy American students are with activities year round that there is never a good time to travel or host,” she said.
In order to address this issue, Ponce de Leon said that she uses the testimonies from former exchange students. “Many students feel like they have a new member of the family thousands of miles away,” she said.
The German exchange to Goslar, Germany is currently the longest-running exchange program at the high school, having begun in 1978. According to German teacher Keith Szalay, the German program during his time at the high school has only once struggled to get enough American students to sign up, in 2002, when four people attended.
However, finding host families is more difficult, according to Szalay. “Prior to the pandemic, I can only think of a very few times that we only struggled to find, like, one last host family. Since the pandemic, it’s been difficult to find enough hosts.”
Bradd also said finding host families has been difficult since the pandemic. “We’ve had a couple years where we had to have one host family take in two students. In the past several years we’ve had difficulty finding host families until the last minute. But families have really stepped up,” she said. “It has been more difficult in recent years. Definitely since Covid and even prior to that for a little bit.”
Chinese teacher Raina Li is in charge of the Chinese exchange program with Hebei International School. According to Li, the Chinese program has had exchanges for the past 20 years with Hebei International School.
“We brought the students to China this [past] summer for the first time after the pandemic. Students stay with a host family and go to school and visit Beijing on the sea and another two cities,” Li said.
The Chinese program has also struggled to find students to travel and host families. “We haven’t hosted students coming to stay in Shaker for a while,” Li said. “We have a really big challenge to get students to sign up for the trip.”
Li said the Chinese program does not currently host Chinese students because the visas of Chinese students are often declined.
Li said one factor that makes finding students to travel difficult is the perceived danger of traveling to China as an American. “I cannot make assumptions, but with the entire geopolitical situation, there is a lot of publicity warning us not to travel,” she said.
Glasier said the high school offers unique opportunities. “I don’t know any other school that has as many exchange programs or international trips as we do,” Glasier said. “In my opinion, personally, every kid should go on one international trip during their four years.”
“I believe that exchange programs give Shaker Heights High School a diverse set of experiences, and that these programs allow both foreign students and our own Shaker students to see an important glimpse into the world,” Waldorff said.
Melman said exchange programs are more than just a travel opportunity. They are also “a chance for a cultural exchange and a chance to see how people go about day to day in other regions of the world, and to look at and appreciate what we have here,” he said.
Senior Alec Turturici participated in the Goslar exchange in 2025, staying with a German family in the city and then hosted a German student in the fall. “I think easily one of the most important parts [of foreign exchanges] is meeting new people and new cultures. Honestly, that is the main part. Everything else comes along with opening your home to someone else, to new ideas and people,” he said.
Neil said an exchange program changed the course of her life. “I ended up, during my studies in France, studying one year in Germany. That’s where I met my future husband, who was American. That’s how I ended up in the United States.”
Glasier said he traveled to Europe as a kid. “I grew up a lot during that time period because I had to learn self-reliance [and to] to communicate with people in another language. I had to meet people and figure out who I am,” he said.
“Exchange programs are more about building relationships and really understanding. Becoming more of a global citizen. You’re not going on a tour or a trip; you’re actually immersed in the culture. You’re making new friends, learning the culture, living the culture and experiencing the culture through the eyes of your host,” Ponce de Leon said.
Said Glasier, “When you go to a foreign country with a different culture and language, it helps you as a young person to understand yourself through the eyes of those who do not know you. It helps you to clarify your own personality and ideas about life.”
