Foreign exchange student inspires Marshalltown students to support foster kids
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — A foreign exchange student is teaching elementary students about perseverance through a service project benefiting foster kids in Marshalltown.
Anamaria Phkhaladce is a junior at Marshalltown High School, but she is from Georgia, a country in Eastern Europe. Before the start of this school year, she came to the United States through World Link, a non-profit based in Iowa that helps place international students across the country.
Anamaria was randomly placed with a host family in Marshalltown, and her experience inspired her to give back.
'I wanted to give back to the community that has welcomed me so warmly,' she said.
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As a result, in late February, she started a service project to make care packages for foster kids in the community.
'I found out that we have many foster care kids in Marshalltown community and so I think that a project dedicated to them is really important right now,' said Anamaria.
According to data collected by the State Library of Iowa, in 2022 there were 95 foster kids in Marshall County.
Each care package will have snacks, coloring books, toys, and more, including hand-written notes from students at Hoglan Elementary School. On Wednesday, students made cards during the school's monthly Bobcat Buddies program.
'Bobcat Buddies is just a time once a month that we spread our kids across all grade levels and they interact with adults as well, and we do a project every month and it's usually focused on a character trait, something that we're working on,' said Principal Amy Williams.
The students were working on perseverance that day. They watched clips from Disney's Finding Nemo to help them identify what perseverance is. Then, they were given sea-themes cards to decorate and write.
'I wrote 'you are important,'' said fourth-grade student Sky McCulley. 'Everybody in the community does a part to make it happen and does a part to make it a community.'
The cards will help share some smiles.
'I think it's really important to like show and remind kids that they're loved, they're valued, and cared, and that's the reason why I chose to do that,' said Anamaria.
She collected the cards and is finishing the care packages. She is creating around 100 packages, and any leftovers will be saved for the future. They will be sent out by April 1st.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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