Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1957-09-05

NeAAS oCStlOli Va OllNCl OPAh 'iS ollu
Renate Walther, %, of Speyer,
Germany, a city on the Rhine
lear Heidelberg, have spent two
summers together walking and
talking, sometimes in English and
sometimes in German. with what
promises to be a lifelong friend.
ship between the Parsons and the
WaltherS :; a result.
1t all began in 1855 when Ruth,
then a junior at Montgomery
FL ir High, read a no'ic.. on the
bulletin board about the Ameri.
can Field Services summer pro-
gram for high school students.
Without much hope, Ruth put
her name on the list and then
spent the next few months fill
ing out application blanks stacks
of them" and getting references
from everyone who had ever met
her.
Names Were Screened
After the list had been screen.
ed by a school committee, four
names, including Ruth's, were
submitted to New York. The
Montgomery Blair office will new
er recover from the day, April
Is, when all four learned that
they had been accepted.
At this point in her story, Ruth,
who is an ardent propaganda
for the American Field Service,
took time out to give us the back
ground of this internationally
minded, zone small world" group.
1t began in World War I, with
a group of volunteers anxious
to risk their lives rescuing the
wounded from the battlefields of
Europe. World War II saw the
group reactivated for the same
purpose.
Since national barriers are not
important to the wounded, Amer
lean Field Service people were
accustomed to thinking interna.
tionally.
Spurred by Peace
After the second world war,
friendships between the peoples
of the different countries seemed
the answer to world peace to ATS
and in 1947 the first exchange
student program with so college
students from Germany coming
to this country was begun.
At first it was subsidized by
the state department but now it
is financed solely by private con-
tributions for $3.50 per student.
1t was soon found that the pro-
gram suited high school students
best but because our curriculum
doesn't include enough foreign
languages at that level it was
only one-way program for a
time with students from abroad
spending a school term here and
living with American families.
About four years ago, the sum-
mer program was started for
American students with at least
two years of language to go
abroad and spend their summer
vacation with foreign families.
1t is under the direction of
Stephen Galatti, head of ATS and
known to the students as father
of 10000 kids"
From a small beginning, next
Iyear there will be on the two
way program, 1000 students go
ing in each direction. This, in
Ruth's opinion, is the largest
number possible without losing
the personal touch that is so i'm.
portant she feels.
Papa Writes
Mr.. Galatti, in his role as
adopted papa" writes to each
one of his students at least once
and the New York office handles
all the personal problems that
arise.
The summer program students
travel on student ships and Ruth
says that the international flavor
hits you from the beginning.
For instance her ship, the
Arosa Kuhn, is owned by Swift
erland, registered in Panama, has
a Swedish captain with the
French name of Bordeaux, a
German crew, Italian and English
cooks and a French radio officer.
Her fellow students from Blair
that summer were Carlton Corey
who went to Finland; Harriet
Marshal to Bavaria; and Tom
Sinclair who like Ruth headed
for Germany.
In the Walther family, there is
the father, Otto, an engineer,
mother and three girls and boy.
OF Renate's two older sisters,
one was married last year and
the other is in Stockholm study.
ing nursing. Her brother, Is, is
spending three years getting
practical experience with his
fathers electrical engineering
firms, Simens, before finishing
his education at college. This up
side-down way from ours makes
epnca tLhan Won cfnn To think