Platteview High School has seen many faces this year, including new international students. One such new student is Lotte Schijver, visiting us from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

“When I was nine-years-old, I saw a YouTube video of another student from the Netherlands telling his story of being a foreign exchange student,” said Schijver.

The curious nine-year0-old thought to herself why someone would do this, and one day later she was determined to do the same. She signed up the next day and joined an organization to come to the U.S. 

Not only is Schijver bringing her culture with her. She comes with her 13 years of experience and love of dance. Immediately after walking off the plane she joined the PHS Dance Team. She, like the rest of the team, is looking forward to Nationals in February, hosted in the state of Florida. 

“The most exciting thing I have experienced at PHS is football games and the Homecoming festivities. We don’t have school sports back home, so having sports connected with the school is exciting.”

Schijver is also part of the Publications/Journalism team, working on the school newspaper and yearbook. Dr. Kersulov, yearbook teacher and sponsor, said, “Lotte brings so much talent and brightness to the class, but also to the school at large. She has a clear passion for dance, but she also has a good eye for design and art. Such skills are very helpful in a yearbook class.”

You can see Schijver performing during home football games or meeting with her new friends in the old high school commons.