photo by: Contributed

From left to right, Olivia Hemker from Free State; Lena White from Free State; Margaret Mulhern from Bishop Seabury; Simon Williams from Free State; and Eliza Brockhoff from Bishop Seabury point to the areas they’re traveling to as a part of the American Exchange Project.

For some other young people, the most memorable part of their summer vacation might be relaxing at the beach or going to a theme park. But what Lena White will remember about hers is a scary encounter with a loose bull.

White, of Lawrence, and several other teens were on a ranch in eastern Texas learning how to tag and brand cattle when the bull managed to get loose. “I was scared to death,” she said. At one point, she and several other people were even on the same side of the fence as the bull while the ranchers were trying to get it back in its pen.

Why was White in tiny Kilgore, Texas, population 13,000, in the first place? She was there as part of a cultural exchange through the nonprofit American Exchange Project, which sends students from around the country to parts of the U.S. they’ve never been before and lets them connect with people from very different cultures and backgrounds.

“The national goal, as the founder would put it, is to make AEP as common as the prom,” said Bishop Seabury history teacher Sonja Czarnecki, who oversees the program in Lawrence. “Like it’s as much a part of your senior year experience as going to the prom.”

According to its website, the program is open to any senior at a participating high school who is on track to graduate. This is the third year that students from Lawrence schools have been able to participate in AEP, and 14 students took part this year. They signed up for the program, and in the spring, they got a letter that revealed where in the United States they would be headed for their free, weeklong trip.

The destinations can be big cities or small towns, and they’re all over the U.S. Czarnecki said one Lawrence student this year got to travel to Connecticut, another went to Las Vegas, and still another was assigned to Dodge City, just a few hours away.

Once they get to their destination, the students stay with a host family and take part in activities with other young people with different backgrounds and opinions, not just in the community they’re visiting but from other places around the country. White was surprised by the diversity of the people she met on her exchange — people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs and, of course, opinions.

“I think we had like five or six different religions,” White said. “… So seeing all the different perspectives, but we all come together in one. I thought that was really cool.”

Eni Wintoki from Bishop Seabury was the student who went to Las Vegas. She said the program did a great job of creating a sense of family among people from different places who had never met.

“I went there to that unfamiliar environment, but I went with a bunch of other people who are also unfamiliar to that environment,” Wintoki said. “And now that we’ve all gone back to our own respective homes, I sort of realized that just this one-week experience kind of gave me the opportunity to have sort of a family wherever I go.”

Getting to experience those unfamiliar places offers surprises, too. Elyse Hammann, who traveled to New Orleans, said one of the highlights was walking along Bourbon Street and hearing the live music there with their local hosts.

“One of the hometown kids that lived in New Orleans, her sister was in one of the clubs where her friends were playing, and she said, ‘You guys can come in without buying drinks,'” Hammann said. “… And being able to just go inside and connect with others on the music, and everyone loves to dance.”

“Just seeing how much music can bring people together,” she said, was one of her favorite parts of the trip.

White, of course, got her crash course in ranching, which she said was very different from farms she was used to in Kansas. “I got made fun of not knowing what ranching was, but now I know, and I’ll stick to farming,” White said.

photo by: Contributed

From left to right, Alexandrea Lyford from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine; Elyse Hammann from Bishop Seabury; and Nataly Cazales from New York City hang out during Lawrence’s home area week.

The exchange isn’t just about sending students from Lawrence to other places, though; it’s also about welcoming students from other parts of the country to Lawrence.

The students who will be traveling take part in that, too. They try to coordinate their trips so that they can still be in Lawrence for what’s called “home area week,” when their guests from around the country come to town. They help plan the itinerary for the visitors and then spend the week showing them around.

Thirteen visitors came to Lawrence this year, and they got to tour the Capitol in Topeka, explore the Plaza shopping area in Kansas City, swim at Lone Star Lake, visit the Haskell Indian Nations University Cultural Center and more. They also got to meet some local and state leaders, including state Sen. Marci Francisco and Gov. Laura Kelly.

photo by: Contributed

Aditya Romfh, from Palo Alto California, picks blackberries at South Baldwin Farm.

photo by: Contributed

The students participating in the American Exchange Project are pictured with Gov. Laura Kelly at the Topeka capital.

photo by: Contributed

From left to right, Alexandrea Lyford from Dover-Foxcroft Maine; Eliza Naumann from Lawrence High; Sen. Marci Francisco, Margaret Mulhern from Bishop Seabury; Aditya Romfh from Palo Alto.

And, on the final day of Lawrence’s area week, the students came together at Bishop Seabury Academy to bake pies with blackberries they’d picked at South Baldwin Farms and to reflect on their travel experiences.

Aryan Kawatra — who was visiting Lawrence from Palo Alto, California — said he had never traveled to the Midwest before and he didn’t really know what to expect when he was told he would be traveling to Lawrence.

“We visited two farms, and I had never gone to an active farm and talked to the farmers before,” Kawatra said. “… But I thought the most interesting part was how close it was from us. It wasn’t a very far drive, and the farmers talked about their experiences.”

Kawatra said when he first heard about the exchange program, it sounded like something outside his comfort zone.

“I could go anywhere for a week, and just anything could happen,” Kawatra said. “And that’s still so scary, but it’s like the only way to grow is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and that’s something that’s been really difficult for me to do.”

But Kawatra said now he has friends from places he couldn’t imagine before participating in the program.

“I know multiple people from Maine now, which I never would have thought,” Kawatra said. “I know people from Kansas; like, that’s crazy. That’s something I would have never thought of.”

And Czarnecki, too, says she’s seen those unexpected friendships last a lot longer than just one week.

“I still get ‘happy birthday’ messages from kids who were in this exchange with me last year from different places,” Czarnecki said. “… Just these relationships that happen are pretty amazing and very unexpected.”

Students who attend Lawrence high schools and are interested in participating in the program can contact Czarnecki by email at sczarnecki@americanexchangeproject.org. Czarnecki said signups for summer 2026 could open as early as September.

photo by: Contributed

The students in the American Exchange Project visited Kansas City during their home area week.