Foreign Exchange Student Program

In February of this year, only 46 percent of Americans even owned a valid passport. Regardless, it is still very hard to calculate how many US citizens have ever left the country—never mind embarking on a ten month journey from their life, home and native language to study and explore a new country! This year, four new adventurous students from across Europe can be proud to call themselves a Bronco. LRHS’s 2014-15 foreign exchange students, Federica Ancora of Italy, Paul Trippe of Germany, Hong Huang of Austria, and Mark Wilbers of the Netherlands have all taken the plunge into our culture, opting to seize opportunistic international programs like AFS or EF in order to reap the benefits of cultural connections and explore who it is they want to be.

There are numerous programs, including American Field Service (AFS) and Education First High School Exchange Year (EF) that give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new culture. Both programs have strong reputations as top exchange programs in the country and have been helping students study abroad for many years.

AFS originated in World War II where they helped to rescue victims from concentration camps in Germany and continued after the war to promote peace. AFS helps to circulate students across more than 40 countries and hosts 2,500 students in America alone. 5,000 volunteers help to find host families and organize the students’ trips, including local volunteer Paul McAnally. Involved in the program since his exchange year to Denmark in 1983-84, McAnally has a personal connection with the program.

“AFS is two-fold,” he said. “There is a sending side and a hosting side… On the hosting side, students prioritize the countries they would like to live in and AFS tries its best to accommodate them with one of their top choices. On the sending side, there is financial aid available and even full ride scholarships to some countries.”

EF has a similar goal. They have been around for 30 years and are responsible for placing 100,000 students in American schools from a wide expanse of 15 countries.

At EF, not just any student can become involved in the program. Liz Smith is a first year International Exchange Coordinator with EF and also a first-time host parent for Federica Ancora. Smith explains the criteria: “Students undergo a rigorous screening process before being selected to ensure they are mature, their English levels both written and spoken are up to par and their grades are good, as well. They have to maintain a C average or above while attending school in the US.”

Studying abroad is a monumental experience and is greatly influenced by the exchange student’s host family. Regarding AFS, McAnally said, “[Host families] must fill out an application and go through a standard background check… Once the application is processed, families may look at profiles to help match them with a student of their choice.”

Host families through EF also have obligations to fulfill: “Our host families are volunteers and hard to come by!” Smith said, “Host families provide a home, three meals plus snacks a day and reasonable transportation to activities.”

Anyone interested in becoming a host family should contact McAnally at 509-660-1700 or Smith at 509-393-6379. Also, visit http://afsusa.org or efexchangeyear.org for more information.

Being a foreign exchange student leaves a large impact on each student’s character. This year’s LRHS foreign exchange students will share their unique stories in next week’s addition of The Bronco Bulletin.