Roland Kikvadze
Damjan Zimbakov
Morenci is home to two exchange students this school year, and both are seniors at Morenci Area High School. Roland Kikvadze of Georgia and Damjan Zimbakov of Macedonia are enjoying their stay with host parents, Jeremy and Kristen Watkins.
Roland is from the small mountainous village of Bukistsikhe, Georgia (pop. 500), where his K-12 school has 62 students. His mother is a Russian language teacher and his father owns a small distillery. When asked what he misses most about home, he shared a picture of Cortez, his American Pitbull. This fall, Roland was the kicker on the MHS football team. He is currently playing basketball and plans to run track in the spring. He has enjoyed the freedom of choosing his classes at MHS and appreciates how helpful his teachers and coaches have been. Roland plans to stay in the US for college and hopes to attend the University of Michigan.
Damjan's hometown of Strumica is the largest city in southeast Macedonia (pop. 55,000). His mother is an architect and his father is a construction engineer. He explained that his school is in the city center, and he misses being able to go out for lunch during the school day or get a cup of coffee at a café afterwards, but he appreciates the small-town community and safety Morenci provides. Damjan plays basketball for MHS and plans to run track in the spring. After graduation, he hopes to study computer science and play basketball at the University of Chicago.