The Friendship Connection, Inc. is going into its 43rd successful year!
This program was conceived and developed by Ohio high school German teachers in cooperation with English teachers in Germany. The goal was to provide an inexpensive, “on-going” visitation program which would enable participants to enhance their ability to speak German and to develop a greater appreciation of the German culture as well as long-lasting friendships with their German partners. In the first 42 years, nearly 34,000 German and American students have participated on our exchange program.
During the unprecedented 2020 year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to suspend all student travel for three springs/summers. Therefore, we developed a NEW branch of our program: Virtual Friendship Connection! In this 2024-2025 school year, we will be offering both our visitation program as well as our “virtual” option (VFC) during the summer months! It is our hope that by connecting the students “virtually” we can continue to provide a “bridge” between our two countries and help inspire lasting, international friendships as well as encourage future in-person travel between these VFC partners!