04/28/2026
Congratulations Sienna!!!
Nicolet senior Sienna Clarke has been named a Congress-Bundestag Vocational Scholar for the 2026-27 school year. This program offers graduating high school seniors the opportunity to spend their 13th year abroad living with a German host family, participating in a training or school program, and gaining work experience through internships with German companies. CBYX scholars also serve as youth ambassadors for the United States, sharing our culture with Germans and bringing ideas from the German culture back to their home communities.
In addition to German interest and ability, CBYX winners need to be well-rounded individuals with strong communication skills and intercultural awareness. The Vocational CBYX is highly selective; only 25 students nationally are chosen. Sienna’s selection is an affirmation of the academic and co-curricular programs at Nicolet. She has participated in all facets of our German program and in 2024 she was awarded the Joachim Herz Foundation Scholarship. Sienna has also made significant contributions to theater, instrumental music and yearbook, and is on the media youth team for her faith community, the Divine Temple Church of the First Born. She hopes to intern with either a theater or print/digital media.
Initiated in 1983, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program was created to strengthen ties between Germany and the United States. CBYX is jointly funded by the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, and is overseen in the U.S. by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Sienna is the 20th Nicolet German student to be selected for this program since 2003. Natek Meinhardt is currently studying in the Hanseatic city of Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.