Angela Marie Winters on being a host family for an exchange student
Posted
on Jul 22, 2015
The lunch program on July 22nd was Angela Marie Winters of Cultural Homestay International, a 501 (c)(3) Non-profit Educational Exchange Program. She explained how the program worked with a focus on becoming a host family.
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________________________________Cultural Homestay International
Opening your heart opens minds...host a high school exchange student for 5 or 10 months! Every year high school-aged youth from over 30 countries around the world participate in CHI's high school foreign exchange program. Host families are the backbone of the Cultural Homestay International Academic Year Program (AYP). By volunteering and opening your home and heart to the world’s young people, you are donating to them an uncommon gift: an offer of friendship, a willingness to share themselves and their way of life, and a genuine interest in learning about culture and customs.
Bringing the World to your Home
When you host an international exchange student, your family begins sharing similarities, exploring differences and seeing the U.S. through a fresh perspective of an inquisitive teenager. Imagine your family learning a simple Chinese greeting, cooking a traditional Brazilian meal or having a lively discussion about the political climate in Slovakia. With students representing over 30 countries, you will have the enriching opportunity to welcome a small part of the world into your home!
When you host an international exchange student, your family begins sharing similarities, exploring differences and seeing the U.S. through a fresh perspective of an inquisitive teenager. Imagine your family learning a simple Chinese greeting, cooking a traditional Brazilian meal or having a lively discussion about the political climate in Slovakia. With students representing over 30 countries, you will have the enriching opportunity to welcome a small part of the world into your home!
As a host family, you can expect CHI to:
- Personally interview and fully orient your family in your home before your exchange student arrives.
- Provide a complete profile of your exchange student, including a letter from the exchange student, academic and character references, and a list of hobbies and interests.
- Match your family with an exchange student who has similar interests and values.
- Contact your family and exchange student on a monthly basis to complete a progress report evaluating the exchange student’s progress in family life, academic achievement and social activity.
- Maintain regular contact with the exchange student’s local high school and monitor the exchange student’s progress.
- Be available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week in case of emergency.
- For more information you can contact Angela Winters, Ridgecrest Academic Coordinator
or visit the website at www.chinet.org