Saint John’s Preparatory School has long been known for welcoming students from all over the world. The Collegeville school currently hosts students from 14 different countries in grades six to 12 and offers one of the longest-running international exchange programs in the country.
Continuing that tradition, the school has welcomed the first participants in what school leadership hopes will become another successful exchange program.
Three students from Mexico — Renata, Elias and Emiliano — arrived on Jan. 8. All are juniors at Centro Escolar del Lago (CEL), a Catholic school in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico, an apostolate of Tepeyac Abbey, a Benedictine community founded in 1948 by monks of Saint John’s Abbey.
While Renata, Elias and Emiliano experience school life in Minnesota, Alex Bavelli, a Prep senior from Sartell, and Sofia Pauly, a junior from St. Cloud, are experiencing school in Mexico.
“The Benedictine connection, as well as the historic connection with Saint John’s Abbey made it natural for us to approach them about the possibility of creating a semester exchange program for our students,” said Jon McGee, Prep’s head of school. “As a world school, we believe that an exceptional education requires an understanding, appreciation and experience of different cultures, different perspectives and different voices.”
McGee said he approached CEL in 2022 and had many conversations with the school between spring 2023 and fall 2024, resulting in an agreement to launch the exchange program this year.
The school is not new to exchange programs. Its connection with Stiftsgymnasium in Melk, Austria, will celebrate 60 years this summer.
“These are not travel tour experiences — they’re immersive experiences,” he said. “When we experience cultures different than our own, we build bridges for peace and understanding and the world needs that now more than ever.”
Renata said she is excited to be part of the exchange program, even if it means being in Minnesota in January.
“My parents and I went shopping for winter things like snow pants and snow boots — all of it. I didn’t want to get frostbite.” she said. “[My parents] really wanted me to be prepared for the winter. It’s cool; I like it. I have never seen this kind of weather, but I really like it, actually.”
She has wanted to explore the world since she was young.
“My parents are really supportive about me being an exchange student and seeing the world. They like traveling, so I love traveling.”
Emiliano is looking forward to making friends and creating memories, he said, as well as working on his English skills, while Elias is discerning whether he wants to attend college abroad or in Mexico.
“This is my pre-test for college to see if I like studying abroad or if I should look for something more local in Mexico,” Elias said.
They are already settling into life at Prep.
“The students in the dorms — my classmates and friends there — are really outgoing,” Renata said. “I think that really helped me become more confident about talking to people. If you talk to people, they talk back. You just need to start a conversation.”
They are also doing everything they can to experience winter in Minnesota — from skiing to ice fishing and even attending a St. Cloud State University hockey game, which appeal to all three students’ interest in sports.
Renata has joined the girls’ basketball team; Elias and Emiliano plan to try baseball and tennis in the spring and have gotten involved in eSports.
“For me, one of my goals is to go to as many sports events as I can — professional, college, anything,” Elias said.
Meanwhile back in Mexico, Sofia and Alex are immersed in life at Centro Escolar del Lago.
“I have made some of my best friends through our international program at Saint John’s Prep, so I knew this opportunity would allow me to learn more about a different culture and make new friends and connections,” Sofia said.
Learning about other cultures and making global connections is central to the mission at Prep and these students are embracing that vision.
“If everyone lived their entire life only experiencing their own culture, their growth would be limited only to the ideas and way of thinking of their society alone,” Alex said.
The students at Prep are staying in the dorms, but Sofia and Alex are with host families. Sofia is staying with Renata’s family.
“One of my favorite excursions we’ve done is to go to Mexico City and visit the big center square of the city,” she said. “It was fun to see all the different people and experience the strong Mexican culture.”
“Her host family has been amazing and has taken her on many outings and to family parties,” Sofia’s mom, Jill said. “She’s getting used to all of the food, dancing, and late evenings at these special events and she’s getting to be a good dancer!”
Alex recently visited the Teotihuacán pyramids with his host family. “It was amazing,” he said.
While there are a lot of new things to get used to, like a different class schedule and wearing uniforms, Sofia said she likes how close the CEL community is and Alex said the students are “super friendly here and they always speak their mind.”
“A whole semester can feel like an intimidating amount of time,” Alex noted. “But if you stay in contact with the people you care about most back home, you will quickly adapt to the new culture.”
Sofia’s parents, Jonathan and Jill Pauly, appreciate that the school is part of a Benedictine community, similar to Prep.
“Sofia has mentioned the strong faith community at Centro Escuela del Lago and Tepeyac Abbey,” Jill said. “At a [recent Mass], she was lucky to get a seat inside the church. There is often an overflow because so many people want to go to Mass. There are often a hundred people who listen to Mass outdoors on the patio on Sundays because the sanctuary is so full.”
In addition to having fun, McGee said he hopes this program helps the students expand their world, create new friendships, strengthen their language skills and develop their confidence and independence.
“This is the first year of an experience we want to grow,” McGee said. “The Melk program is 60 years old, this one is in its first year. You can’t understand other cultures if you don’t experience them. … This is how we build bridges and peace — by getting together and having some fun along the way.”