Exchange Students
The Rotary Club of Palatine has hosted Exchange students for 20 years. Each exchange student spends approximately 11 months in Palatine, attending High School and living with 3 host families. The Club also supports local students interested in living in a foreign country. The Rotary Student Exchange is different from other student exchange programs in that:
•The students attend weekly Rotary meetings
•There is support from the entire Rotary club, from the Rotary District, and from Rotary International
•The students stay with us for 11 months, not just for the school year
It can be a very enriching experience for everybody involved. If you are interested in participating, please contact us.
Exchange Student History
Exchange students usually arrive in September and stay until July of the following year. This list of exchange students shows their year of arrival:
1967 Dan Oisson (M) Sweden
1971 Geeta Goel (F) India
1976 Enrique Garcia (M) Mexico
1976 William Francino (M) Brazil
1977 Annika Sarvela (F) Finland
1978 Hanno Hock (F) Germany
1980 (W)Richard Downer (M) New Zealand
1981 (W)Joanne Koehler (F) Australia
1982 (W)Adolf Reffelbusch (M) Brazil
1982 Keyi Kwawasaki (F) Japan
1983 Kati Tammilehto (F) Finland
1984 Jose Velasco (M) Colombia
1985 Camilla Sigvartsen (F) Denmark
1986 Akiko Maeda (F) Japan
1987 Ulrika Broback (F) Sweden
1988 (W)Juan Pabon (M) Colombia
1988 Otacilio Arauza Neto (M) Brazil
1989 Helena Lindhe (F) Sweden
1990 (W)Jonathan Levin (M) South Africa
1990 Prajna Pinky Desai (F) India
1991 Catherine Dvergsdal (F) Norway
1992 Thomas Ferrard (M) Belgium
1993 Sacchan Matsumoto (F) Japan
1994 Hector Farjat (M) Mexico
1995 Thomas Christoffersen (M) Denmark
1996 Catherine Bouleau (F) France
1997 Vanessa Castilho (F) Brazil
1998 Anne Hunke (F) Germany
2000 (W)Danielle Hartman (F) Zimbabwe
2001 Natasha Luzkova (F) Russia
2002 Katsuko Mima (F) Japan
2003 Christian Loy (M) Germany
2005 Olga Linden Perez-Gavilan (F) Mexico
2006 Nayra Prado Valerio (F) Brazil
2007 Benjamin Thomsen (M) Germany
2008 Pasit (Gup) Sopajaree (M) Thailand
2009 Alejandra Aguero (F) Paraguay
2010 Neielly Volpe (F) Brazil
2011 Annika Meuser (F) Germany
2012 Narra Julia de Souza de (F) Brazil
2013 Don Wattanakul (M) Thailand
2014 Anne-Charlotte Ritouret (F) France
2014 Via Gaytan (outbound) (F) Colombia
2015 Anna Del Magno (F) Italy
2016 Emma Gerstenkorn (F) Germany
2018 Viki (F) Slovakia
(W) = Winter Exchange arrives in January and stays thru December of the current year.
