Maria D’Alessandro Rojas and Marina Tharrats Lopez, both from Spain, are high school exchange students staying with families in Flandreau for the school year. The district has a long history of hosting students through exchange programs, knowing that it benefits them, and the community as a whole through a greater understanding of cultures and world views.
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Carleen Wild
Opening your home for a year to a teenager from another country, especially one you’ve never met, can be an incredible leap of faith. But it’s one two more families from Flandreau have taken this school year.
The Yeaton and Iott families are about a month into hosting exchange students, both young women from Spain. They are excited about the year ahead, learning from each other and exploring different cultures, homes, and worldviews.
Maria D’Alessandro Rojas, who is staying with Michelle and Chad Iott and their daughter Sadie, a senior, is 16-years-old and from Andalusia. She grew up in Cabra, a town in Córdoba province near the southern coast of Spain, close to Malaga.
Rojas has dreamed of participating in an exchange program since she was a young girl.
“America — the U.S. — is famous in films, and the high schools seem so cool. I thought it would be a great opportunity to come here and have this experience,” she said.
Rojas hopes the experience will improve her English, which she believes will help her pursue a career in the tourism industry.
She joined the volleyball team this fall and was surprised by how hard the team works and how often they practice, very different from the sports teams back home. She’s also adjusting to younger drivers and the food.
“The food is so different. It’s all junk food. I really love it, but sometimes it’s too much. We eat at Taco Bell like three times a week,” she said, laughing as she glanced at her teammates, who often take her on the runs.
Meanwhile, Marina Tharrats Lopez, 15, is running with the cross-country team. Tharrats Lopez, from Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, a town north of Barcelona, is staying with the Tim and Malerie Yeaton family.
“Coming here was a shock,” she said.
“I go to a restaurant, and the person serving me is from the school or the sister of my friends. Everyone knows everyone.”
But it’s the close-knit, small-town feel that she says makes her feel welcome, even just a few weeks into the school year. Tharrats Lopez hopes to improve her English and become more independent. As a twin, she has always had her sister, Martina, by her side.
“This experience is something I wanted to do for myself,” she said.
“I came here because my English was not so good…and I thought I was not going to come. Of course because now I am the only one who is deciding my chances. I am making my own way because when I was in Spain, if I had a problem, my mom was always there. Now I have Malerie and I have my mom, but I am the one who has to resolve my problems.”
Her host family is thrilled to support her journey.
“Marina is a sweetheart. She cares so much about those around her, even people she doesn’t know. She loves animals, she’s responsible, and she studies hard,” her host mother said.
Her little brother, Ed, loves that she’s willing to play with him and his two older siblings.
“To have another life here, to restart everything, it’s good,” Rojas said.
Superintendent Rick Weber agreed, adding that exchange programs benefit everyone.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for all students. They get to see what our school is like, and we get to learn about their culture as well.”
Flandreau Public Schools has a long history of hosting exchange students. Meet the first student to ever come to Flandreau in next week’s edition.
