The Rotary Club of Silver City is seeking families willing to open their doors to an international student for a portion of the 2018/2019 academic year as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.
According to Rotarian Sunny Kellerman, Youth Exchange Officer for the Rotary Club, Rotary will host a young man from Germany who will attend Silver High School starting this month. He will be placed in junior year classes and is interested in sports, photography and computers. His first host family has been selected; additional hosts are sought for the months of January through June.
The exchange student will spend roughly 11 months living in Silver City. Each host family is home to this student for two to four months and members of the family are interviewed and vetted by club members. Hosts must reside within the Silver High School area and have a spare bedroom to accommodate the student. However, if the home isn't outfitted with an additional room, an exchange student could share a room with a child of the same gender. Host families provide room and board and share family experiences with the student – and the exchange student is expected to be a part of the household and to share in household duties.
Host families don't necessarily need to have a teenaged son or daughter. In the past, Rotary Youth Exchange hosts have included single-parent families, empty nesters and families with young children.
Local Rotarians are very involved with the student during their stay and eager to assist families throughout the student's stay. The club provides exchange students with an allowance and provides transportation to district-wide youth exchange weekend events.
"Rotary exchange students undergo a rigorous selection process and are chosen for their demonstrated academic excellence, strong work ethic and social skills. Most students are fluent in English before they arrive in the United States. Because this exchange program is a cultural one rather than an academic one, exchange students are charged with serving as ambassadors from their country to ours and are encouraged to meet people, make friends and share their experience of home with folks here. Host families are to treat the student like a member of their family, have them involved in chores, include them in family outings, supervise their friends and their comings and goings," said Kellerman. Host families find that the opportunity to live with a student from another country is enriching for all family members and leads to lifelong friendships.
Rotarian Peter Falley, Youth Exchange Coordinator and Counselor, also urges eligible families to consider hosting a Rotary youth exchange student. "With this undertaking," he said, "you will enter into the journey yourself through the day-to-day interactions with someone coming from another part of the world."
Silver City residents interested in hosting an international student should contact Rotarians Sunny Kellerman at (575) 313-2200 or Peter Falley at (575) 388-2004. Kellerman's email address is syates@effenv.com.
More information about Rotary's Youth Exchange Program is available online at www.rye5520.org.