RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Responsible parents looking for ways to supplement the educational and personal growth opportunities for their children should consider hosting a teenage exchange student for an academic semester or year. Children and adults alike, by interacting daily with a new, international family member, broaden their perspective on the world and discover new facts and ideas.

NorthWest Student Exchange places international high school students with families all over the country, including here in our community. Exchange students add a dimension to the family dynamic that cannot be achieved in any other way.

The benefits to the exchange student are obvious: honing their English language skills; learning about the educational system in this country; understanding U.S. social, political, and cultural values; and establishing international friendships. Benefits to the hosts are similar: Not only can host families learn about another culture and its values; they can view the U.S. through another’s eyes, and thereby gain a broader understanding of our own country.

Families do not need to have children at home to host! Many childless couples, empty nesters, and single-parent families have enjoyed exchange students. NWSE places students from dozens of countries who have varied interests. I will do my best to match a student to your family’s lifestyle and interests.

Those unable to host, can earn up to $175 for every student placed with people you refer to me, who do host. While host families are not compensated for hosting, tax deductions may be available. Check with your tax preparer.

NWSE exchange students are closely screened for appropriate motivation, academic and language skills; our students have solid emotional and practical support from NWSE professional partners abroad, and from the students’ natural parents in their own countries.

Our students come with their own spending money and health and accident insurance. Hosts are not expected to be tour guides. Students are here to go to school to improve their English, not be tourists. NWSE local Academic Coordinators, like me, recruit, screen and orient local host families and provide close support throughout the program.

My family has personally hosted students from France and China and we keep in touch with every student - even years later! While they stayed with us, they shared games they play at home with us, cook their favorite meals and try to teach us their language and share their culture. We also have been invited to stay at their family’s homes when we go to their country. One of our French students even calls me his “American Mom.”

There are flexible hosting terms available. You may host for as little as a month as a Welcome Host, or, if you’re unsure if hosting is right for you, you may host on a trial basis. If everything works out, you may continue for a longer term. In other words, if you’re unable to continue hosting for any reason, you’re not “stuck” with hosting the student.

It’s easy to get more information about hosting. Potential hosts can call me, Sheryl Longsworth, Local Area Coordinator at 916-833-1218 or [email protected]; or by contacting NWSE at 877-850-3312 or [email protected].

Or, you can visit the NWSE web page at https://www.nwse.com and click on Host an Exchange Student. Students are placed with hosts quickly, so if interested, contact me as soon as possible to get a student that is the best fit to your family’s lifestyle and interests.