Host a student
by Maralyn Fink
Meeting at SJHS with Mrs. Truitt, I learned about the student exchange program of which she is the adviser.
Students from France and Spain arrive in our country in July to practice our language and culture. They are placed with a host home that have a student who are their age.
How does this work, you ask?
Mrs. Truitt contacts a program with student exchange and tells them how many exchange students that we will be able to host, which usually is five. This is the same company that our students go through for the exchange to go to another country. The student from Spain stays for 5 weeks and the students from France stay for 3 weeks. The Spanish students arrive June 24-July 29. The French students arrive July 7-July 28.
The age group is between 13 and 18 years of age. The students arrive at the Detroit Airport and are met there by their host family.
The program pays all expenses except for meals. It is preferred that the host family have a student in the St. Johns school system. This does not exclude other schools from hosting. The host family is given $250.00 for hosting if they travel to France or Spain with the St. Johns High School students that go. This is a yearly exchange.
Students apply on-line at www.isemn.org/us-hosting.html or they can e-mail Mrs. Truitt at truitta@sjredwings.org and she will send an application to them. The deadline for an application is May 22, 2015.
Mrs. Truitt is looking for host families that meet the criteria as mentioned above.
This was a great learning experience even for me as I have always wondered how an exchange program worked.
My thought, you can always teach an old dog new tricks.
Many thanks Mrs. Truitt and Megan Gust for allowing me to learn about this program. I must add that this is a big responsibility for Mrs. Truitt as she puts a lot into this program and needs a round of applause.