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Sonoma Valley High welcomes three foreign exchange students

Sonoma Valley High School is hosting three foreign exchange students this year. Bulan Setiawan (left) is from Karawang, Indonesia; Theresa Marie Najda (middle) is from Uchte, Germany; and Stephanie Brett (right) comes to Sonoma from Stuttgart, Germany. Setiawan is participating in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, which provides scholarships to students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend up to one year in the U.S. YES scholarships are also available to U.S. students age 15 to 18-1/2 interested in spending one academic year or a semester in select countries. Najda is part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program which provides a full scholarship for the year (and is available to U.S. students interesting in studying abroad in Germany). Brett is the third member of her family to study at Sonoma Valley High School. Their stay is organized by the nonprofit AFS (American Field Service) Intercultural Programs, which is run by Jean McQuady in Sonoma. She is always looking for host families and students interested in studying abroad. She can be reached at jeanmcquady@gmail.com.