Youth between the ages of 16 and 18 are being invited to learn about the Rotary Club’s International Youth Exchange program on October 14 at the Rotary House.
Elaine Tamboline, the chair of the youth services committee, says the Rotary Club has sent more than ten students to other countries with this program since it was founded in 1995. Each student lived with a family in another country for the duration of a school year, from the end of August to the beginning of July.
She says the point of the program isn’t for the students to pass the grade in another country. The club understands it would be difficult for someone to travel to a foreign country and expect to pick up on the school work easily.
Instead, this is about students experiencing other cultures around the world.
“They have to be willing to learn about another culture and learn another language,” says Tamboline.
The student will get to live with four or five different hosts during their stay.
“We want them to be good representatives of the Rotary Club, Drayton Valley, their family, their communities and of Canada,” says Tamboline. She says the students need to give the experience their all. This includes volunteering, learning customs, trying food, and working hard in school.
Currently, the Drayton Valley club has a student in Austria. The club has also brought in a student from Belgium, who is currently attending the Holy Trinity Academy for Grade 12.
“We are recruiting for the 2023/2024 school year,” she says. There will only be one student who gets to participate in the program, says Tamboline.
The information session, held on Friday at 6 p.m., will give families a better idea of how the program works, says Tamboline.
“Interested students and their parents must attend together,” she says. “Applications will be available at the session and there will be a closing deadline of October 21. The students who get their applications the earliest are more likely to get the country of their choice.”
She says there are many things for students and parents to consider before committing to the program.
Those eligible for the trip must be aged 16 to 18 while they are away. They cannot go if they are still 15 in August 2023, and they can’t go if they will be turning 19.
The age requirements are for safety reasons, says Tamboline. In some countries, 19-year-olds are considered adults, and the laws could be different for adults.
Students also have to complete Grade 9 before they can apply. They also have to have the full support of parents and the school. This may mean having higher marks, so the student doesn’t struggle as much when they come back.
There are also some costs associated with the trip. Tamboline says the Rotary Club splits the costs with the parents. She says there are several things for families to consider besides the costs of flights.
This includes insurance, passports, visa, and special events in the other country. The Rotary Club covers the cost of language lessons, which can cost $800 for two weeks, and the hosting family will provide food, and housing. The hosting Rotary Club gives an allowance to the student to cover costs like cell phones and other incidentals.
Tamboline says there are always emergency plans in place should anything arise. The club also chooses the countries to travel to closer to the departure date so they don’t send students to an unstable country.
“The students should know by April which country they were going to,” she says.
Anyone who is looking for more information before the information session can contact Tamboline at 780-514-4509 or by email at btandes@telus.net.
