Welcome America” is a fitting title to many Independence Day celebrations. But families throughout our area have spent thepast 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, 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 doing
community service 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 from one of over 30 countries worldwide!

Here are two of the students arriving in August that I am seeking hosts for:

Johannes is a 16 year old boy from Germany.
"I am friendly and uncomplicated. That's what my friends
and family say. Johannes enjoys sports, animals, tennis, fishing, sailing, swimming, ice skating, hockey, soccer, jogging, and diving. He looks forward to playing piano, guitar, football and baseball in the US. Johannes has two older sisters.

Leticia is a 15 year old girl from Brazil. "My family is completely lovely and friendly! .About me, I like to make people laugh, dance ballet, sing (even if not sing very
well..)...I’m very, very excited to do my student exchange. I've even learned the USA anthem and pledge of allegiance!" Leticia lives with her parents,
younger brother, and two pet cats. She likes making people laugh, shopping, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends. She is passionate about the arts and enjoys dancing, especially ballet. Leticia is
excited to improve her English, have new experiences, make new friends, and live the "real American way of life."

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 regional director, Kerri Fox at kfox@ciee.org
or 866-509-4861.
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 interdependentand culturally diverse world”.