Dutch exchange student back 'home' after 20 years

Twenty years ago, Fort Atkinson High School hosted a foreign-exchange student from The Netherlands.

Last week, Peter de Bruijn, 39, returned to visit the community he considers to be almost a second home.

“It just feels like home being back in Fort Atkinson,” de Bruijn said. “It brings back a lot of good memories being over here.”

Although it’s been two decades since he “graduated” from Fort Atkinson, de Bruijn has actually visited Wisconsin five times through the years to keep in touch with his former host family, Tom and Sue Burgess, who now reside in Hayward.

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DUTCH TREAT — Peter de Bruijn of The Netherlands returned to Fort Atkinson last week, 20 years after “graduating” from high school as a foreign-exchange student. Visiting his former host family, Sue and Tom Burgess, who now reside in Hayward, de Bruijn came down to see the town in which he spent a year. He said he was a amazed by the “new” high school built in 1998, as well as the many dramatic changes downtown. Pictured above, de Bruijn speaks to the class taught by Fort Atkinson High School English teacher Jane Steiner, the last remaining staff member from 1988 who is still working at the high school. — Photos by Ryan Whisner.