SMHS students Chaz Hawkins and Zach Arwood, from left, display a picture of Hamm, Germany, where they will soon travel with the school’s German exchange program. Along with 18 other SMHS students participating in the program, they are raising money for plane tickets by offering their shoveling services at the mulch pile located beside the town’s recycling center Saturday, March 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photo by Emily CrismanSignal Mountain High School students going to Hamm, Germany, in May as part of the school’s exchange program will be at the town’s recycling center with shovels and pitchforks Saturday, March 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For a $10 minimum donation, the students will offer their services in loading mulch into the cars of spring gardeners.
“It’s March; everyone needs mulch,” said SMHS German teacher Kay Holl as to the reasoning behind their choice in fundraiser. “It’s too cold for car washes.”
He said the exchange program is beneficial to the entire community and needs support to survive.
“It helps students to communicate on a global level,” said Holl. “If we have 20 students this year going, they will come with about 20 students in the fall to study here.”
Through bake sales held twice a week in February, he said the group was able to raise $1,076.
“We did pretty good on that bake sale, but we still need to raise as much money as we can,” said Holl. “The more money we raise, the less students will have to pay for their tickets.”
He said each ticket to Dusseldorf, Germany, costs $1,750, and with 20 students participating this year, the total flight expenditure will be $35,000.
The SMHS students leave for Germany May 20 and return June 14, and most are staying with the same student they had in their home this October.
Chaz Hawkins, who will be going on the trip, said he has remained in touch via Facebook with Niklas, his German exchange student.
“They were like twins,” said SMHS student Zach Arwood, who will host a German student next fall. “They had the same personality and everything. We called him the ‘German Chaz.'”
Holl said none of the students in the exchange program are currently taking German at SMHS. The exchange students are sophomores, juniors and seniors, and Arwood said German was not an option when he initially chose a foreign language to study.
Thank you very ‘mulch’
The town recycling center is at 1151 Ridgeway Ave.