Lisa Roth is an exchange student from Germany attending Cedarville High School. (Photograph by Pat Feldhake) Lisa Roth, an exchange student from Germany, is attending Cedarville High School this year. She arrived in Cedarville in early September, a guest of the Reverend Jerry and Nancy Wittmus and their 17- year-old daughter, Hope, a junior at Cedarville High School.

“Lisa is like a sister,” Miss Wittmus said. “She fits right in with our family. I’ve loved learning firsthand what Germany is like from her.”

Miss Roth, 18, is the daughter of Christoph and Grit Roth, and she has one older brother, Moritz. They live in Leipzig, Germany, with a population of about 500,000. When in Germany, she has enjoyed meeting with her friends, biking along the Baltic Sea, and traveling to other European countries.

Here in Cedarville, she has been enrolled as a senior, and she will get an honorary high school diploma in May. She has taken classes in humanities, drafting, college algebra, world and U.S. history, technology media, and personal fitness. She’s been on the honor roll each marking period. She especially has liked making new friends, learning to play varsity basketball, and savoring American food. She has developed a fondness for pancakes with maple syrup, cakes, and desserts, and BLT sandwiches. She does miss German brown bread, she said, which is a dark, thick heavy bread, and German chocolate.

The Wittmus family has enjoyed sampling that fine chocolate, Mrs. Wittmus said.

“Lisa’s family has been marvelous,” she said. “They have sent us lots of information about Germany, and included some delicious German chocolate. They also sent Jerry information on Martin Luther since they know that he is employed as a Lutheran pastor.”

Mrs. Wittmus said she is especially impressed with Miss Roth’s “can do” attitude, saying, “Lisa is willing to try everything. She is open to learning new things, and she works very hard at them.”

After completing high school in Germany, Miss Roth is considering going into social work or a career working with people; or going into business with her father, a book binder. He takes old books from churches and libraries and repairs them.

At the end of the school year, Miss Roth plans to visit friends in Philadelphia, and the fly home via Paris in mid-June.

“I hope to come back to America,” she said. “I will especially remember playing basketball here and being a part of the team.”

“Having Lisa here has been a whole new cultural experience for our students, and I hope that we will be able to support other students who would like to live abroad here in Cedarville,” said Superintendent Amy Scott.