Every year the Carlisle Rotary Club sponsors an exchange student from a different part of the world who lives here from August to June and attends high school in Big Spring, Carlisle or South Middleton School Districts. These students are vetted throughly by their local Rotary Club before being accepted into the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and generally they represent the best of whatever country they are from. The students, aged 16-18, stay with host families for about three months each. The host family is financially responsible for only room and board. Exchange students becomes one of the family and follow the rules of the host family the same as any other children of the family. In addition to acting as surrogate parent(s), it is expected that the host family will provide the exchange student with guidance on American values, culture and social norms. Rotary provides an extensive and experienced support network to the student and to the host family providing such necessities as health care, transportation, insurance, solving any immigration issues and so forth. A member of the Carlisle Rotary Club is assigned to each exchange student during their stay and is always available for consultation both to the student and the host family.
Applications to become a host family for next school year are now being accepted by the Carlisle Rotary Club. Contact Thomas Williams, Chair, Youth Exchange Committee, Carlisle Rotary Club, 10 East High Street, Carlisle, PA 17013, emailtwilliams@pa.net or call 243-3341 between 8-5, for further information or to arrange a personal interview. Those interested in hosting a Rotary Exchange Student who live outside the Big Spring, Carlisle or South Middleton School Districts will be referred to a Rotary Club which sponsors exchange students in the district where they live.
