“Manon! The best coordinator. I had such an amazing year here in Vero with you, I really loved doing all the trips this year like Ste. Augustine, Key West & Miami. Thank you for everything.”
Real words. Real memories. Forever.
At the end of their exchange year in Vero Beach, our students often leave us something behind — handwritten lines that say more than any review ever could.
scroll downNo student comes back the way they left. A year in a foreign country, a new language, a new family, a new school — it changes young people. The letters on this page were not written for a website. They are real goodbyes, in the handwriting of those who lived the year.
Manon · Vero BeachRead the letters and one thing stands out: nearly all of them are addressed to the same person. Manon is the founder of SIDO School — and also the one who, in Vero Beach, picks up the phone, drives to the weekend trips and makes a foreign country slowly feel like home.
That so many teenagers write her a goodbye says everything about a good exchange year: it isn't the paperwork or the school alone — it's the people who carry you through the year. That is what SIDO School stands for.
Every note is a piece of a year in Florida — pinned up, transcribed, and left exactly as it was written.
“Manon! The best coordinator. I had such an amazing year here in Vero with you, I really loved doing all the trips this year like Ste. Augustine, Key West & Miami. Thank you for everything.”
“Hey Manon, vielen Dank für alles! Du bist ein echt guter Coordinator und man merkt, dass du dir Mühe gibst und dich echt für die Schüler einsetzt. Du hast mir mit vielem echt geholfen und es ist gut, einen Ansprechpartner zu haben.”
“Manon! You genuinely saved my whole exchange year. Thank you so much for everything!”
“You're the best local coordinator I could have asked for. I still want the collage of all the friday photos we took! Thank you for everything, from the bottom of my heart.”
“Thank you so much for everything and for bringing Lenia here, giving me my best friend! I had the best time in Germany thanks to you!”
“Manon, thank you for every help I got from you. It was an amazing year, I hope I will see you again.”
“Ich wollte mich nochmals bedanken für die ganze Hilfe, die du mir gegeben hast - auch wenn ich nicht mal unter deiner Verantwortung stand. Ich bin sehr dankbar, da du mir mehr geholfen hast als meine LC.”
“Thank you for everything. You are an awesome coordinator.”
“Danke dir auch noch für die ganze Hilfe in diesem Jahr! Ich bin echt unglaublich dankbar und wünsche dir das Beste weiterhin!!”
“Hi Manon, Merry Christmas from all of us and thank you so much for your help for the past months… anyway all the best and again merry Christmas… Alessia”
“I'll never be grateful enough to you Manon, you gave me the best family, that will forever be my family. You were always there for me, for anything I needed. Out of being the best local coordinator, you and your family became my true friend. I love u all, thank you so much for everything!! Clary”
No letter from this country on the wall yet.
When a child has a good year in Florida, parents back home notice it in a very specific way — in a short message on the day their child lands back home.
“Insgesamt möchte ich dir ein ganz großes Dankeschön sagen! Du kümmerst dich so toll um Greta und wir haben einfach immer ein gutes Gefühl, weil wir wissen, dass du da bist, egal in welcher Situation. Danke liebe Manon, das ist nicht selbstverständlich! Wir werden SIDO auf jeden Fall uneingeschränkt an Freunde weiterempfehlen!”
“Liebe Manon, wir haben Tiffany heute wieder in München gut in Empfang genommen. Wir wollen uns bei dir ganz herzlich dafür bedanken, dass du dich so gut um alles gekümmert hast und wir Tiffany bei euch in guten Händen wussten. Bis dahin ganz liebe Grüße und bis bald, Gorica und Christian”
“Hi Manon. Thank you very much. It's really nice report, we are very proud of her. Thank you again for everything!!”
“Hi Manon!! Marco is already at home!! Would like to say thanks for all your help with Marco! Big hug for all your family!!”
Read the letters again and you notice: it is rarely about vocabulary or grades. It is about three things a year in Florida gives young people.
Finding your feet alone on another continent sounds big — and it is. Those who manage it come back with a quiet steadiness that stays.
Some bonds from the exchange year last across countries and years. Best friends you would never have met without this one year.
A foreign place becomes a second home — with a family, a school and people you want to return to again and again.
These letters were written on the last day — at the airport, in the car on the way home — by young people who came back different from who they left as. One day, perhaps your child will write a line like this too.