Rotary Youth Exchange starting up again
Exchange students from Brazil, Japan and Argentina helped Wooster Rotarians with the Parade of Flags project in February 2020. After a two-year interruption, Rotary Youth Exchange is once again welcoming youth from around the world for an academic year exchange.
After a two-year interruption, Rotary Youth Exchange is once again welcoming youth from around the world for an academic year exchange. Students learn a new culture and gain fluency in another language by attending high school and participating in after-school and community programs in another country.
The Rotary Club of Wooster will host two students and is actively seeking host families.
Hosting an exchange student is a meaningful way to both learn about the student’s culture and gain a better understanding of American culture as experienced by the student. Host families come in a variety of configurations: young couples with no children, empty nesters, families with young children and those with children all the way from elementary school to high school.
Rotary looks to place students with three host families for roughly three months each, beginning in mid-August. Families with travel plans during the time they host are welcome to take the student with them, or Rotary will arrange a temporary stay for the duration.
Host families are expected to incorporate the student into their daily lives, that is treating them as a family member, not a guest, providing them with all meals, their own bed (though not necessarily their own room) and a place to study.
Wooster Rotary also is inviting students from Wooster, Smithville, Norwayne, Triway, Northwestern and Central Christian who will be age 15-19 in 2023-24 to apply to go on Exchange. Students indicate their preferred country from a number of choices in Europe, South America and Asia. Costs to participate vary depending on location, with the average being $7,000-$8,000.
Interested students and their families are asked to attend an information session at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 18 in APEX in the lower level of the Gault Library on The College of Wooster campus.
Email Wooster Rotarian Brent Rice at brentlrice@sssnet.com for more information on hosting a student or participating in Exchange.