Foreign Exchange Program Seeking Rockland County Host Families

Academic Year in America (AYA) places nearly 1,000 foreign exchange students with host families across the United States.

Lindsay Bongi of Pearl River is coordinating efforts to find host families in Rockland County to take in exchange students age 15 to 18 from one of 35 countries the program works with. 

AYA is part of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1964 with the mission of using cultural exchanges to promote worldwide understanding. 

The students placed by AYA spend either a semester (five months) or a full year (10 months) with their host families, attending local high schools, giving them the opportunity to experience life and education in the United States. 

Among the countries sending students to the United States through AYA are Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey. AYA works to match students with suitable families, and the hosts are able to choose students to bring into their homes. 

Tim McMahon has hosted five AYA students. He said through a release from AYA that the students have helped his own family learn about the world around them.

"The result is that my children have made friends and traveled around the globe," McMahon said. "My children have visited several of our students on their own and have made extremely close and personal friendships. In fact, our entire family has visited the families of two of our exchange students and developed close friendships between families."

Bongi said her focus is to bring the program to Rockland County. For more information, call Bongi at (845) 664-4127, email her at linsaythomas@yahoo.com or visit the AYA website at www.academicyear.org.