The Transformative Power of Personal Connections in Uniting Communities: FIfty Years of the PMFS Mexican Exchange

By Leann Stover Nyce and Genevieve Schmidt Camacho, Plymouth Meeting Friends School

The Mexican Exchange program lies at the heart of Plymouth Meeting Friends School’s deep commitment to preparing its students to be world citizens. By providing immersive experiences that build students’ cultural competencies, the Exchange illustrates one of PMFS’ core values: the belief in the capacities of young people to be change makers. For fifty years, this program has been a labor of love, of recognizing the transformative power of developing personal connections and relationships across languages, cultures and borders.

It is truly impressive to think that in 1970, PMFS educators were so forward-thinking in their understanding of the relevance of a cultural exchange for young children. In 1969, Head of School, LaRue “Tolly” Taliaferro had the vision of creating such an experience for students after watching a small child communicate with his peers despite a significant language barrier. Alejandro Williams, then an English teacher at his families’ school, Colegio Williams, and Tolly  met for the first time at Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City. In Alejandro, Tolly found a kindred spirit- an open-minded, progressive educator interested in fostering international connections between schools.

Fifth Grade teacher Dottie Leonard led the Exchange for over 30 years, becoming a beloved colleague to teachers and staff at Colegio Williams. She is also credited with recognizing the potential of the Exchange itself. Starting off as a choir tour for fifth and sixth graders, Dottie quickly realized the need to take advantage of the opportunities for learning presented by the program. Dottie developed historical curriculum, structured field trips, and focused on nurturing strong connections between schools, at all levels. Her legacy is one of the keys to the longevity of the program: the understanding that grows with the building of strong connections and relationships. When Anne Javsicas arrived as Head of School at PMFS in 1989, she played an integral role in nurturing the program, traveling on the Exchange periodically throughout her tenure at PMFS. 

In 2004, Leann Stover Nyce became the Fifth Grade teacher at PMFS, and a few years later, the Director of the Mexican Exchange program. In the 15 years since, Leann has maintained the familial relationship between the two schools alongside Maricarmen Diaz, who is now head of the lower school at Colegio Williams.

How does the strength of these relationships serve to create this transformative program? This sense of community has such long roots in both Plymouth Meeting and Cuernavaca that it extends to the students’ homestay experiences. Students frequently remark that one of the most exceptional features of the program is how embraced they felt in the home of their new family. In the process of embracing another child during the hosting process, the bond of shared trust is created between the families. This support provides an anchor for students to fully participate in everyday life, grow in their sense of selves as well as their understanding and acceptance of others. The barriers between “us” and “them” are removed in this intimate sharing of worlds, and are instead replaced with a more universal “we”.

Traveling with classmates and teachers at the ages of 10 and 11 allows for an amplification of perspective, and a broader world view. There is no longer one way to do things, to say things, or one history. Students return home with new eyes and a greater sense of acceptance and flexibility. To say nothing of their growth in independence, self confidence, and ability to rely on each other! 

Returning students are also eager to continue their Spanish language education, to continue to develop fluency and immerse themselves further in the process begun by the Exchange-- to strengthen their abilities to communicate and expand on the relationships that they have created with Cuernavaca.  Eddie Einbender-Luks, PMFS Class of 2003, writes, “Personally, the exchange changed my life at an early age and set me on a path that would lead me to study Spanish in high school, travel to Costa Rica for a service trip during my senior year, study abroad in Argentina in college and continue to live, work and travel throughout the Caribbean these past five years. I feel that traveling and learning about other cultures and building bridges across borders is of the utmost importance, especially today.”

For some PMFS alumni, the relationships formed during the Exchange extend well beyond their years at PMFS. Just one example among many is Johanna Reilly Humphrey, PMFS Class of 1993, who during high school at Germantown Friends School returned to Cuernavaca to live with her  Mexican Exchange family for a month, teaching English to Kindergartners at the exchange school.  Johanna plans to travel with her mother to stay with her Mexican exchange friend in the future.  “It was transformative for me, building a relationship with someone from another country. My exchange family became another family for me. The trip expanded my confidence and my world perspective.”

Fifty years after its creation, the lifelong impact of the Exchange is now tangible as it features its second generation of participants. In February 2020, pre-coronavirus travel restrictions, fifth grade students and PMFS faculty once again traveled to Cuernavaca, making PMFS history and continuing this decades-long tradition.  We celebrate this anniversary at a critical time. The divisiveness of the current political climate creates greater urgency and resolve for the work of the Exchange. The transformative power of uniting communities and fostering understanding brings light to the darkness. May this light continue to burn brightly another 50 years!