Welcome Byron Chavez-Rotary Youth Exchange
Posted by Patrick Baumgart
on Sep 25, 2013
We welcomed our new Rotary Youth Exchange student, Byron Chavez from Chile, at the airport with Quinn Spencer, who we sent to Chile from Caldwell last year, and a small group of people from our club and the youth exchange program. Byron is staying with Quinn's family, Anne and Eric Spencer, for his first three months of the program and is attending Caldwell High School as a junior this year. He recently tried out for and made the swim team at our local YMCA.
We will be needing two more host families while he is here in Caldwell to finish the 2013-14 school year. The host family needs to reside in the Caldwell School District. The host family can be a non-Rotarian. The student lives with them for about a 3 month stay. The course of time runs approximately from September through November, December through February/mid-March, mid-March through mid-June. You can pick any of the two trimesters left. It is okay if you do not have children living at home to host an exchange student.
Having three host families exposes this student to different lifestyles and gives them a broader experience while at the same time makes their stay with the host family more manageable with a host family's schedule for the year. You can choose a 3 month block that works best with your obligations and you always have the "back up" of two other families to help out when necessary. You gain a lot from having this experience almost as much as the student does. This program helps create better understanding between nations as these young people return home to their countries.
If you or anyone you know might be interested in hosting this young man, please contact Leora Summers, our club's secretary and Rotary Youth Exchange Officer, in charge of assisting this process.