When 16-year-old Claire Marie Walther was looking to travel from her home in Hamburg, Germany, to the United States as an exchange student, she chose to stay with a host who is familiar to her family.
Long before Claire Marie, known as Marie, was born, Dickson City resident JoAnn Martarano hosted her father, Mark Walther, when he came to Northeast Pennsylvania as an exchange student.
Growing up, Marie said her family didn’t talk a lot about Walther’s time as an exchange student. But Martarano, a retired social studies teacher, was in touch with them, talking to the family on Christmas and on birthdays. The families also exchanged Christmas cards.
So when Marie decided several years ago she wanted to be an exchange student, she asked her dad about his experience — and he told her he liked it.
“I always wanted to make an exchange (trip) here because I just wanted to experience everything and especially get better with my English,” she said. “I always wanted to do it on my own, but I think that he just supported my opinion.”
Marie, who worked with Northwest Student Exchange, arrived in the U.S. in August and attends classes as a senior at Mid Valley Secondary Center, where she played volleyball. Marie’s last day at school will be Jan. 22, and she goes home to Germany in February.
Her time as an exchange student isn’t her first time in the U.S. Marie came here several years ago with her family, visiting Florida and New York City. She also met Martarano for the first time and toured the school, which Martarano said helped with the transition.
The Walther family poses for a photo at Lake Wallenpaupack. They include, from left, Mark, Marie, Jasmin and Mats Walther. (Submitted)
It was during their visit a few years ago that Walther told Martarano that Marie was interested in potentially being an exchange student. Without hesitation, Martarano said their family would host her.
Getting used to cultural differences
Before arriving at Mid Valley, Marie said she expected to step into an American high school like the ones she has seen depicted in movies, with yellow buses, cheerleaders and football games.
Marie liked the football games, cheerleaders and overall school spirit, but said the bus ride wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Although she had never played volleyball prior to arriving in the U.S., Marie joined the team and made friends.
She said the most notable differences were her schedule, lockers and stricter attendance requirements. In addition, she said that in Germany students who are old enough are allowed to leave school property during their break — something not generally allowed in the U.S. — while in the U.S., teens can drive before age 18, and cars are used more than trains and buses.
“You really need a car here,” Marie said.
In the U.S., she takes the same school subjects every day for 50 minutes, along with electives, while in Germany, she takes them once a week for an hour and 30 minutes and doesn’t have the option to take electives. In Germany, she gets 20-minute breaks between classes, while in the U.S. she has three minutes to get to her next class, something that took getting used to.
“That stressed me a lot,” Marie said. “Especially with the rooms and everything, I was like, ‘wait, where do I have to go?’”
Lunch period is also longer in Germany than in the U.S., she said, but she noted that the shorter class periods, breaks and lunches she has at Mid Valley make the school day go by faster than in Germany.
“You only have long periods and you’re sitting there and you’re doing so much, and after that you’re just exhausted because you literally sit there for one hour and 30 minutes just doing one specific thing,” Marie said. “Here you always have the mix every day.”
JoAnn Martarano shares a photo album of memories she made with her former exchange student Mark Walther at her home in Dickson City on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Martarano is currently hosting Walther’s daughter, Marie. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
JoAnn Martarano shares her experience of hosting Marie Walther, and previously Marie’s dad Mark, at her home in Dickson City on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Foreign exchange student Marie Walther talks about her experiences in the U.S. at her host JoAnn Martarano’s home in Dickson City on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Marie Walther poses for a photo besides a Student of the Month spot at Mid Valley Secondary Center. (Submitted)
JoAnn Martarano, right, accompanies Marie Walther during the Mid Valley Secondary Center volleyball team’s senior night. (Submitted)
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JoAnn Martarano shares a photo album of memories she made with her former exchange student Mark Walther at her home in Dickson City on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Martarano is currently hosting Walther’s daughter, Marie. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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New experiences
Marie said she loves her teachers at Mid Valley, and also appreciates not having to pay for lunch or breakfast at school, and that dances are open to all students.
Several of Marie’s teachers said they love having her in their classes.
“Marie is an amazingly kind and hardworking student,” said Jacob Banik, her chemistry teacher. “She has enriched the lives of all of the students (and the teacher) in her class by giving them a perspective they would never have received were it not for her.”
Therese Bukousky, who teaches Marie in her honors biology class, said she has been thriving at Mid Valley.
“Her academic performance is impressive and she collaborates with her peers to learn not only biology, but about American culture,” she said in an email. “Her English is so fluent that she is able to use her strong understanding of concepts to assist others academically. Marie is a pleasure to work with and is always polite to everyone.”
Secondary Center Principal Cassandra Stout said while the school has had exchange students before, Marie is the first during her time as principal. Marie, she said, has become part of the school.
“Marie has quickly become a true member of the Spartan community. When she visited over the summer with her parents to finalize her schedule, she immediately signed up for volleyball and formed fast friendships with her teammates. Her ease with peers and staff makes it feel as though she has been part of Mid Valley for years,” Stout said. “Both her family and her host have been wonderful partners throughout her time here.”
Outside of school, Marie said people she has encountered are kind and open-minded.
“Here the people are like, ‘hi, how are you,’ and they just go right into a conversation,” she said. “I really, really like that.”
The Walther family pose for a photo on the Pennsylvania Rail Bike in Hawley. Front row, from left are Jasmin and Marie Walther and behind them are from left, Mark and Mats Walther. (Submitted)
During her time as an exchange student, Marie said she has had a number of enjoyable experiences, including going to a drive-in movie, celebrating Halloween and visiting La Festa Italiana in Scranton. She has also encountered wildlife that she had never seen in Germany, including deer, skunks, groundhogs, squirrels and chipmunks.
“I saw a lot of new animals here,” Marie said.
On Thursday, she experienced Thanksgiving for the first time, which she and Martarano celebrated with Martarano’s sister, Anne Koniszewski, in Peckville, their children and Koniszewski’s sister-in-law. Marie liked that everyone came together and, of course, the food, her favorite being pumpkin pie, which she had for the first time.
“It was like I thought it would be, everyone is coming together, eating together, talking,” she said.
Martarano plans to take her to the Christmas light display at Stone Hedge Golf Course in Wyoming County, and hopes to also take her to Philadelphia.
Martarano said Marie has been wonderful, pleasant, sweet and creative, and they have taught each other some new recipes.
A formative experience
Although Marie and her father stayed with Martarano at different times, their experiences in the U.S. have similarities.
Walther, who was the first exchange student Martarano hosted, arrived in the U.S. from Hamburg in January 1998 when he was 17 years old and left in July. He stayed with Martarano, her late husband, Louis, and son Matt, at their home in Mount Cobb, and attended North Pocono High School.
Like Marie, he attended high school as a senior and was also involved in sports, playing on the school’s tennis team. He graduated with the senior class in June of that year.
Walther, now 45, said he was inspired to come to the U.S. as an exchange student after a two-week school trip to the Brittany region of France when he was 14 years old.
“That was a very nice experience, my first experience spending some time abroad,” he recalled. “Some years afterward, my parents asked me if I would be interested in spending a couple of months or half a year in another country, and the United States are always kind of dream country, especially I think in Germany, where you want to spend some time.”
Walther came to the U.S. through Treff, an international education company; Martarano’s brother, Michael Yanni, picked out Walther for the Martaranos.
Walther recalls coming to a family who, after picking him up from the airport, made him his favorite meal, spaghetti.
“It was really a warm welcome,” Walther said. “I felt this warm welcome and this loveliness from the first day. I remember having a really great time and it didn’t take long to feel at home at their house.”
Walther said the high school he attended in the U.S. was larger than the one he was at in Germany and recalled using a locker, having a homeroom, traveling by school bus and playing for a school sports team for the first time. He also remembered being surprised at how much cars are used in the U.S., playing the Nintendo “GoldenEye” video game with Matt Martarano, and pool.
Walther recalled newfound friends driving him to a variety of places in their cars — a new experience because kids in Germany get their driver’s licenses at 18, not 16. Joining the tennis team also helped him feel welcome at the school.
“Before I went, I was a bit afraid about how do they welcome me at school? How do the kids behave? Will I have any trouble for whatever reason? But nothing happened,” he said. “Everybody was really friendly. I had a very good experience with really everybody.”
Martarano recalled that when Walther arrived in the U.S. he was quiet and shy, and had decent English skills, which she said improved tremendously during his time with the family. He was also polite and personable, she added, and loved pretzels from Auntie Anne’s and wings from Kelly’s.
“He was great by the time he left,” Martarano said.
She said he made friends at North Pocono and with another exchange student from Germany, Clemens Von Haselberg, who was staying with Martarano’s mother, Angela Yanni, at the same time, and had good relationships with his teachers. Walther also got into the school’s spirit week activities and learned how to ski.
He also taught the Martaranos how to make crepes with Nutella, a recipe Martarano kept and later made with Marie. Walther and the Martaranos also made pretzels drizzled with chocolate, which Marie made with her younger brother when they visited the U.S. for the first time.
Walther, who went on to start his own business at 18 before going on to work at Lufthansa Technik, said his experience as an exchange student taught him how to get around on his own and to be open to other cultures.
“Coming to a different country and feeling this welcome, this friendly people, I try to do the same in my life,” Walther said.
He is happy that Marie is trying new things while in the U.S. and likes that technology allows them to stay in touch.
Staying in touch
Over the years, Walther and his family visited the Martaranos in the U.S., and the Martaranos visited him and his family in Germany. Martarano said it has been good hosting Marie, but a little busier than hosting her father, because of the volleyball schedule.
“It was more work for her with the team playing than tennis was,” Martarano said. “More practices that took time out of her day.”
Walther said having known Martarano for so many years, he feels honored that his daughter is staying with her.
“As a father who sends his child far away, it’s a very good feeling knowing where she’s at, which family she’s in,” he said. “I’m so glad that Marie has the opportunity to stay at JoAnn’s house.”
Marie said her expectations of being at an American high school have been more than exceeded. She plans to stay in touch with Martarano and the friends she has made in the U.S., while Martarano hopes to visit Marie and her family in Germany in the future.
“I think I got everything I expected, especially with the school and through volleyball,” she said. “There’s just so much spirit.”