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NORTHROP - Martin Luther High School has been recognized for welcoming foreign students into its numbers.

Martin Luther recently was named School of the Year by the EF Foundation for Foreign Study, an organization dedicated to placing exchange students in American high schools.

Michelle Moore, local coordinator for the foundation, nominated Martin Luther.

"(Martin Luther) showed real commitment to international exchange throughout the school year," she said. "The school's administration, teachers and students helped make Northrop a new home for our students. I am so proud that Martin Luther High School has been recognized from among hundreds of schools across the country."

Moore said much of the credit goes to Sharon Patrick, Martin Luther's exchange program coordinator. Patrick noted that the school welcomes between two and four exchange students per year. Most stay the entire school year.

While the exchange experience is usually thought of in terms of the foreign student, Patrick said the entire school benefits from their willingness to leave their homes and travel.

"It helps them see that kids are kids all over the world," she said. "They are the same in Europe or Asia or wherever them come to us from. And they get to learn about the culture of the student and see that the world is more than our little town and our state."

Relationships forged often continue for a lifetime, as exchange brothers and sisters often bring their families overseas to visit students who lived with them during the school year.

Patrick said one local family is planning to visit their exchange student in Hungary this summer.

Moore said students placed at Martin Luther have a unique opportunity in attending a Christian high school. Many students have not had the experience of hearing religious messages in school.

"We were very honored to be named school of the year," Patrick said. "It is a real credit to the families who have been host families and opened their hearts and homes to these kids.

"The staff also works hard with the students with their language transition."

The EF Foundation for Foreign Study brings between 2,000 and 3,000 students to the United States each year. It is the largest facilitator of high school programs for exchange students coming into the United States.

Moore also represents Granada-Huntley-East Chain and Blue Earth Area Schools.