“Welcome America” is Wawa’s fitting title for Independence celebrations in the Philadelphia region. But families throughout our area have spent the past ten months “welcoming” a teen from another culture and sharing their hearts and their homes. These host families represent the ultimate in American hospitality. The families and their schools have all been enriched by the experience of sharing and understanding the culture and traditions of a young ambassador from overseas.
This past school year in the Philadelphia region, foreign exchange students Jakub from Slovakia helped his school football team to the championship, Marina from Spain was a lively addition to her high school musical, Charls from South Korea was a proud “American” in his high school marching band, Jan Hendrik from Germany and Jaime from Spain propelled their school soccer teams into the regional finals, and Julia from Poland convinced her Social Studies class that Poland is no longer a Communist country. They all gave of their time and energy to feed the poor, clean up streams, and generally enrich the lives of others. All the students prepared typical dishes of their countries for their host families – sometimes with the assistance of their natural families on Skype!
Now you can share in this experience by hosting your own student (boy or girl) from one of over 30 countries worldwide! One foreign student anxiously awaiting a host family in our region is Spanish teen, Carmen (15). She hails from Madrid and enjoys watching soccer matches with her dad and playing with her two younger brothers aged 5 and 6. She plays tennis, runs, and swims, but her favorite sport is skiing. She would like to participate in athletics during her exchange year America. Her favorite school subjects are physics, math and chemistry and one day she'd like to be a doctor. She's lived with host families in Ireland for two different summers and has studied French for 3 years. She has excellent grades and a very strong mastery of English. Carmen is a delightful young lady ready to come and explore the Philadelphia area through your eyes. She will be a great addition to your family or any family who wants to learn more about Spain. Carmen arrives in the Philadelphia area on August 2nd. How about inviting her into your home for the school year? Additional ways you can help? Please forward this information to your friends and relatives!
For more information on how to get involved in this unique opportunity, check out websites www.ciee.org/highschool and www.ciee.org/host and contact CIEE local coordinator, Sheila Buckley, at Sheila.buckley56@gmail.com or 215.242.5026.
This program is in collaboration with www.ciee.org/highschool. CIEE is a non-profit, non-governmental international exchange organization. For over 60 years, our mission has been: "to help people gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world”.
