Sankt Poulten students travel to Altoona

Mattie Baker and Madison Aboud • April 13, 2026 • 173 Views

New adventures. Twenty five Sankt Poulten students traveled to Altoona, Pa. Nine students spent the week at the high school and stayed with host families in the area.

In October of 2025, the Sister City Program started up again following COVID-19. Pirmin Rausher was the first student to be welcomed into Altoona in five years.

Now, 25 students from Sankt Polten, Austria travelled 4,388 miles to Altoona, Pa., as part of the Sister City Program. Of these 25 students, nine were attending Altoona Area High School from March 25 to April 1.

Chaperone Markus Reichel visited Altoona for the first time in 2006. 20 years later, Reichel has returned.

“Times have changed a lot since then,” Reichel said.

For student delegates, this was their first time in Altoona, Pa. Many students had certain places and things they wanted to try.

“I was looking forward to trying all the fast food we don’t have,” Anna Maria Richter said. “In Austria, we only have McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Subway.”

“[I’m looking forward to] trying Raising Canes,” Constantin Geissler said.

Delegates are staying with host families while they are in the United States.

“It [staying with a host family] was really cool,” Kemal Düzel said. “They have a dog and I’ve never been [around a] dog that long, and also my host family is very nice.”

“They’re [host family] really nice, and I felt welcome from the first day on,” Caroline Proch said. “They also planned all their programs around the things I wanted to experience and what I wanted to do.”

The students who attended AAHS during their trip compared it to their own school.

“I think it’s completely different from ours,” Lisi Krempl said. “Like the teachers are normally coming to us, so a teacher does not have a room for him or herself.”

“The classes are more fun, I think they [the students] are more creative,” Emma Maierhofer said.

Even out of the classroom, Geissler noted a contrast in the school atmosphere.

“Sports are more popular here [at school] than in Austria, you take it more seriously,” Geissler said.

For others, there weren’t many differences.

“There aren’t many big differences besides that this school is much bigger than ours and with more subjects,” Düzel said.

For Proch, she had looked forward to seeing U.S. high schools.

“I was mostly looking forward to [seeing] the American high school experience, and experiencing if it was really like in all those movies,” Proch said.

Outside of education they also noticed distinctions.

“They use public transportation, but not as much as we do,” Proch said. “We usually take public transportation anywhere, and here you just take the car.”

“The people are nicer here, like with small talk,” Anja Dubrovner said.

About the Contributors

Mattie Baker, Associate Editor

I am an associate editor and this is my second year on staff! I’ve always loved reading and writing. My dream job, at the moment, is to work at Barnes & Nobles and drink Starbucks on the daily. I’m obsessed with action movies like “Bullet Train,” “John Wick” and “James Bond.” I also have a passion for art. I’ve been taking extra art classes for over 10 years! Later in my life, I hope to be a storyboard artist and author.

Madison Aboud, Editor – in – Chief

My name is Madison Aboud, and this is my fourth year on the Mountain Echo staff. I am honored to serve as Editor in Chief for the 2025 – 2026 school year. In 2023, I did an Editorial Leadership training through CSPA (Columbia Scholastic Press Association). In July 2024, I served as a National Youth Correspondent for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (WJMC) at George Mason University. When I’m not focused on the Mountain Echo, you can find me reading, spending time with friends and family or hanging out with my dogs. After I graduate, I plan to major in English and minor in Communications. My goal this year is to represent our student body accurately and fairly.