Jade Casiez has been our exchange student for the past year. She came here from France with pretty minimal English. John Evans raved about how much her English had improved over the course of the past year. She lives on a farm with her parents in a small village of about 250 people. She attended high school in a large nearby city. In France, her interests were riding her horse and spending time with friends and family. She described high school in France as being very disciplined and studies oriented. In contrast, Half Moon Bay High School had great spirit. Some of her favorite things included her leadership class, participating in cheerleading and track and field. She was very upset that she’s going to miss out on the graduation and senior prom because of the pandemic. When asked what was most amazing to her, she said that it was the friendliness of everyone that she met here. She particularly enjoyed making amazing friends from around the world and the time that she spent with the other exchange students. She described her life with her host families, John and Larkin Evans and the Schink family. Her a camping trip to the pinnacles, trip to the snow and trip to Southern California all were wonderful. She also told us that she felt as if she had grown a lot. Being independent and in charge of her own finances really made a difference. Next year, when she returns to France she will repeat her senior year and then she hopes to go on to college and study veterinary medicine.