International Student Exchange (ISE) is seeking host families in the New York and Pennsylvania region for high school students from other countries. Students will attend high schools within the host family’s school district for a semester or a full school year. Students are encouraged to participate in clubs and activities and will also engage in community service through Project HELP, an ISE initiative.
Families don’t necessarily need to have teenagers living in the home to become a host family; they may have young children, adult children or no children at all. It’s a great opportunity for empty nesters and single adults, although singles must host two students from two different countries.
Home schooling families can benefit from the program as a cultural learning experience for their own children even though exchange students must attend local high schools. Students may go on vacations or take day trips with host families during the school year as long as there is an educational component. Students come from Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, China, Thailand and Vietnam and are eager to find host families in this area.
Several students are skiers and would love to stay with a skiing family or couple. Many students enjoy a variety of sports, some are musically or artistically inclined, some like to cook, one student would like to earn a pilot’s license, and one would like to become a judge.
Students are 15 to 18 years old, bring spending money, speak English and have full insurance.
Host families provide a loving and caring home for the student, provide a bed and place to study, provide three meals a day, and treat the student as a family member,
Exchange students provide American students with great insight into their home countries, cultures and customs. American students are given a chance to forge lifelong friendships with students from around the world.
Communities that embrace the program often experience a renewed sense of pride when they expose exchange students to the American way of life.
ISE is seeking host families in both New York and Pennsylvania. Contact ISE Representative Jill Darling by June 25 for more information since applications must be completed and background checks made prior to students’ arrival. Call (607) 239-1029 or (570) 395-3215. New York and Pennsylvania are in the Evergreen Region of ISE at www.evergreen.iseusa.org/.
