High School Here as Rotary Exchange Students By Caroline Bunting Klesh
Photos by Maddox, Pokress, and Schulman
Fast friends already. A boy from Sweden and a boy from Mexico
found that they have much in common. They are both 18.
m the school cafeteria, Hasse, Liz and Jose talk over the problem
of finding their way to classes in what seems to them like an enormous
high school building with Carol Willenbrock.
The Rotary Exchange students talk with John McLennan, Farm-ingdale
Senior High School Principal, who is also on the Farm-ingdale
Rotary Committee for Exchange students and is indeed
their friend. They are discussing their courses with a member
of the guidance department.
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Serving the Needs of This Community Over Three Generations
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All three are most enthusiastic
about the United States and
Farmingdale. Jose calls Farm-ingdale
" Chica" which means
small and quaint. He is most
impressed by the friendliness of
the people. He said that the
Farmingdale Senior High School
is ' mucho grande,' but and more
" libro" than schools in Mexico.
He finds the changing of classes
and walking from one end of the
building to the other quite strenuous.
He likes American food
but of course has a special fondness
for Mexican dishes such as
enchiladas and tacos,.
His first three nights in the
United States were spent on a
boat in a sleeping bag. With
limited English comprehension,
we were afraid that he thought
all Americans lived on boats
like sampans in China. But with
the help of an interpreter, Tom
McKee, a former Spanish teacher
in the Massapequa schools and a
principal in North Babylon, he
soon found out that he would also
have a comfortable bed in a
room in a large house in Farmingdale.
He is residing with
newspaper publishers, Mr. and
Mrs. Frank Klesh of 33 Merritt
Road, Farmingdale. Jose is being
sponsored by the Massapequa
Rotary Club of which Mr. Klesh
is Charter President.
Hasse is known for his sense
of humor and his outgoing personality.
He is self assured and
has traveled widely throughout
Europe, Spain, Germany, Italy,
France. He is the type of boy
who could be planked down alone
in any country in the word
and immediately makes friends
and do just about everything.
He is particularly enamoured
with surf boarding and plans to
introduce it in Sweden. Hasse
says that he is particularly impressed
by American steaks-
" they are so big." In Sweden
his favorite food is Swedish meat
balls and chocolate pudding. He
says that school is very different
here. In Sweden no student
pays for lunch and periods are
longer. He says that the schools
in Sweden are much more liberal.
There is no guard in
the corridor watching that none
gets out. In Sweden in between
classes students are free to go
out doors and at lunchtime down
town. Girls are pretty in American
too, but much more old
fashioned. They are more modern
in Sweden, but he says that
he has met a few Americans
who perhaps are as modern as in
Sweden. He has already learned
to grill on the outdoor fireplace,
which he says that he enjoys
very much. Hasse lives with Mr.
and Mrs. Wilbur Oxendine of 114
West Chestnut Street, Farming-dale.
The Oxendines recently
lost their son in Vietnam.
Liz came by ship and said that
her impression of the United
States is that. it is " very busy
and very huge.' She said that
high school is < enormous about
seven or eight times the size of
schools in England. She is absolutely
lost in high school without
Carol. She was speaking of
Carol Willenbrock, the 16 year
old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Barnhardt Willenbrock of Staples
Street, Farmingdale with whom
she resides. Mr. Willenbrock
is Dean of Students at the State
University at Farmingdale and
Mrs. Willenbrock is a Kindergarten
teacher at Northside School.
Each have made many friends
already and Farmingdale High
School students have been most
anxious to put out the welcome mat.
Principal John McLennan, who
is also a member of the Farmingdale
Rotary Committee for
Exchange students has gone all
out in being helpful. He has personally
driven them to and from
school the first few days and has
already taken Hasse on a trip to
Montauk and will take them all
to New England over the forthcoming
holidays. Saturday he
is taking them to the Rotary Dis-trictwide
Exchange student
outdoor outing in Center Moriches.
The community looks
forward to a wonderful year with
the enrichment of these Rotary
exchange students.
Michael Klesh, age 14 and David Jaffee, age 14 have then-interest
in surf boards shared with Hasse and Jose. The young
people had a lot of fun at Cedar Beach last weekend when they
stayed over night on a boat with Michael's parents.
Hasse, a typical Swede, takes right to boating. He lives in the
Land of the Midnight Sun and in summer has 23 hours of daylight
and in winter 18 hours of darkness. He even goes to school in the
dark and returns home in the dark.
SCHOOL
BUS
DRIVERS
MALE or FEMALE
Per
PART TIME . . . m Week
FULLTIME DRIVERS* 110
PLUS OTHER BENEFITS
MUST HAVE CLASS 2 CHAUFFEUR'S LICENSE
OR WE WILL TRAIN YOU IN OUR SCHOOL
COUNTY SCHOOL SERVICE, h e
CALL 293- 9099
ASK fOR MR. HORJON
Farmingdole OBSERVER Thursday, September 12, 1968 Page 7
