Ana Ghambashidze moved from one Georgia to another to spend her junior year at Paulding County High School.

Ana, 16, lives with Stan and Teresa Owens in Dallas and is one of 10 students from foreign countries attending Paulding County high schools this year through the Pacific Intercultural Exchange (PIE) program.

“You learn a lot of new things and make a lot of friends,” said Ana, who is from Tbilisi in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Teresa Owens, 50, is a regional manager for the program and coordinates it in most of the state. She oversees 33 exchange students this year.

“My husband and I, we weren’t able to have kids,” she said, “so now we have them all over the world.”

This year in Paulding County, PIE has students from Mexico, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Ukraine and China. They are at all Paulding public high schools except Hiram and at Grace Christian School near Hiram.

All are between 15 and 18 years old, Owens said.

“Two of mine turned 16 after they got here,” she said. “It’s fun when they’re here and it’s their birthday. All the holidays are fun because you’re teaching them a whole new tradition. Last year we had a girl from Korea who never saw a live Christmas tree. She’d never had turkey or ham or Easter baskets.”

The girl filled a notebook with her recipes for the American foods students had never tasted, Owens recalled.

“A boy we had four years ago is now in law school, and he makes my recipes,” she said. “He is going to visit us for a week or so. We pretty much keep in touch with all of them.”

Some of Owens’ students have gone on to successful careers, she said. One got a four-year full scholarship to the University of Oxford in England and now has his own law firm in Mexico City.

“We’re very proud of him,” she said. “All the kids are exceptional.”

Ana has logged more than 175 hours of community service, Owens said.

“I don’t think she’s made less than a [grade] 96 this year. You wouldn’t believe the invitations we get from colleges for her to come visit or consider going there,” Owens said.

All PIE students must speak English well when they arrive, Owens said, and they get better at it during their time in the U.S.

“One day they get up and say, ‘Mom, everything I dreamed last night was in English,’” she said.

Ana agreed. “By the end of the third month, you feel like you’re home.”

Owens is seeking volunteer host parents for next year.

Information: (770) 505-3324 or email teresa @pieusa.org.