Information about the school partnership Alte Landesschule Korbach, Waldeck-Frankenberg - Elkhorn Area High School, Walworth County, Wisconsin

In June 2003, the administrative district of Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hessen sealed its German-US partnership with Walworth County, Wisconsin. The partner county has about 100,000 inhabitants and is located in the south of Wisconsin, 80 miles west of Chicago. Agriculture and tourism play an important role there, just as in the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg.

Through the exchange of ideas and experiences in the fields of education, youth exchange, science, art, culture, economy and trade, social progress and intensive business relations are promoted. A particularly rigorous contact exists between the Alte Landesschule (ALS), Gymnasium Korbach (district and Hanseatic city of the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg), and the Elkhorn Area High School, Walworth County, Wisconsin.

The impetus for the school partnership comes from the formulation of the partnership agreement between Waldeck-Frankenberg and Walworth County: “Exchange of experiences in the areas of education and training, youth exchange.” From January 26 – 30, 2008, the director of the ALS and two English teachers visited Walworth County for preliminary talks.

E-mail correspondence developed between the students of the ALS and the Elkhorn Area High School, followed by a visit of teachers and officials from Elkhorn School District to Waldeck-Frankenberg and the ALS from June 12 – 19, 2008. On June 25, 2008 a partnership between the ALS and the Elkhorn Area High School was officially established.

Twenty-one students from the ALS and two English teachers visited Walworth County/ the Elkhorn Area High School from October 23 - November 2, 2009. They were accommodated by host families, and excursions took them to Chicago, Madison, and the local courthouse, prison and museum. The return visit to the ALS from the US was in June 2010 with 11 youths and a German teacher. The students took a circular tour and visited the city of Fulda and Point Alpha.

Thanks to the mediation of the then Walworth County Deputy Commissioner, another visit from the ALS to the US was possible in October 2011. Twenty-one ninth graders took part in the exchange. Nine students and seven teachers came from Walworth County to the ALS in June 2012. The program included - in addition to the European Football Championship on television - sporting activities, a city tour through Korbach, and a trip to the surrounding area as well as trips to Fulda/ Point Alpha and St. Goarshausen/ Rüdesheim.

In March 2014, 27 students and teachers from Walworth County visited the Alte Landesschule. The programme included highlights from cultural and contemporary history (day trips to Kassel, Fulda, Paderborn), local events (trips to the Edersee/ Schloss Waldeck, Edersee dam wall and to Willingen (Upland)/ Mühlenkopfschanze, Lagunenbad) and group events (school tour, final evening).

The next trip of ALS students to the US took place in April 2016. The exchange was attended by 25 students and two teachers. They were accommodated by host families and got to know American family life, attended classes, and were able to explore the surroundings. Excursions took them to Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison, where Sen. Steve Nass hosted a reception at the Capitol.

As part of the exchange program between the two schools, 25 students and teachers from Elkhorn Area High School visited the Alte Landesschule in Korbach in March/April 2017. Once again, city and landscape tours were on the agenda (Kassel with the Grimm Museum and Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Eisenach and Wartburg, Wasserkuppe, Point Alpha, Bad Arolsen and the Residenzschloss, Willingen (Upland) with Eissporthalle, Edersee and Schloss Waldeck). A special highlight for the pupils was a reception by District Commissioner Dr. Reinhard Kubat in the courthouse of Waldeck-Frankenberg.

Original German-language text provided by the Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg