SPRINGFIELD – During the first week of July, Thurston High School hosted 12 students from across the United States for a week-long visit through the American Exchange Program.
The American Exchange Project gives high school seniors the chance to spend one week discovering a new American town the summer after graduating. Starting July 1, a dozen students from places like Texas, New Hampshire, the Bronx, and Gettysburg got to discover and explore Springfield.
An opening banquet welcomed visitors to Oregon on July 1. Students flew back home on July 8.
The program, founded in 2019, designed these experiences to create lasting connections between Americans from different backgrounds, foster deeper empathy among neighbors, and give young adults the chance to see themselves and their country in new ways.
“The goal of the project is to take you to a place that’s very different than where you’re from, to almost give you a culture shock, and to experience something very different,” said Josie Heacock, a 2026 Pleasant Hill High School graduate and member of the program.
Addi Coble from Springfield went to Texas for a week and said her culture shock came from the materials used in disposable products.
“There were weird things you wouldn’t really think about, like they use a lot of styrofoam,” she said. “I have never seen so many Styrofoam cups and plastic bags.”
Aubrey Harris came to Springfield and the surrounding area from Ohio. Dwanny Duval Mateo came all the way from New York. During their time in Oregon, the entire group participated in events that showcase Springfield, Eugene, and Oregon as a whole.
Students spent a day touring the University of Oregon, went white water rafting on the Willamette River, and celebrated the Fourth of July at Creswell’s annual event, followed by fireworks in Pleasant Hill. They also got the chance to visit places outside of the immediate area, like Florence and Bryce Creek.
“I’ve had a lot of firsts,” said Duval Mateo. “My first s’more, my first time riding on a horse, my first time being on a plane, my first time traveling, my first time being to Oregon, rafting, and my first time being away from my sister for so long,” she said.
Theophilus Shields from Springfield went to New Hampshire a week prior and visited the East Coast, where Craig Hollingsworth is from. Then, Hollingsworth got to go to Springfield and experience the West Coast.
“It is very different there,” Shields said. “It’s funny how you kind of take things for granted here where you’re from, because we don’t get ticks here. I could just lay down in the grass and take a nap.”
Students were presented with brand new experiences and learned valuable life lessons.
THS teacher and exchange manager, Tyler Nice, explained the history of the program and how the founder, David McCullough III, “thought that travel is the best way to overcome division, and if we can get kids from parts of the country to visit places that they don’t know, they might realize that we have a lot more in common than we have differences,” Nice said.
Duval Mateo said, “I learned there are other people who are exactly like me, even if I’m 1,000 miles away from where I’m actually from.”
The entire program is paid for. Meals, flights, activities, lodging, and transportation are covered in full through the program. Nice said businesses like Hawaiian Island Grill, Mucho Gusto, Subway on West 11 in Eugene, Restobar in Florence, and Prince Pucklers all donated portions of meals for the students.
“I’m really proud to be a part of this because these kids are really awesome,” Nice said.
