AFS Head of the Lakes Area

	Welcome to AFS Head of the Lakes Area Serving Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin
Home Page AFS Head of Lakes Emergency Contact Information Calendar of Events Hosting a Student Going Abroad Local Area / School Links Student Travel Guidelines Leadership Team Volunteer with AFS Fun and Helpful Tips Photo Album	HOSTING AN EXCHANGE STUDENT ARE YOU READY TO HOST A FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT? _____1. Do you have a house or apartment? _____2. Do you have a spare bed? (can share room, but needs own bed) _____3. Is there the desire (heart)? - Everybody in the family wants to, or is willing to give the addition of a foreign teenager to your family a very sincere try. Family is defined as the providing of a caring and nurturing home, and that means a family can be single people, single parents, adults without kids, adults with kids at home, empty nesters, and whatever other configuration will provide a quality experience for someone else’s child from a foreign country. AFS carefully screens and interviews all students coming to the U.S., and, likewise, people sending their kids to the U.S. will expect that AFS interviews all families wanting to host a student, and we do. _____4. Are you open minded and willing to learn about and accept or accommodate cultural differences, as the AFS student will NOT sound, act, or necessarily have the same beliefs and behaviors as you? _____5. Are you willing to provide transportation? (AFS students cannot drive) _____6. Can you accept some expense? You have no expenses getting them here and home, they have health insurance, and students are to bring spending money for clothes, personal items and most school expenses, but food, lodging and transportation are expected to be the responsibility of the host family. There is a charitable contribution allowance from the US government of about $500 for having a foreign exchange student. _____7. Will you have your student present for the required AFS functions during the year? _____8. Are you willing to talk about “how’s it going?” with a local AFS liaison contact each month, as is part of our agreement with the government to keep track of our kids. _____9. And if you fall in love with your student, they are required to go back to their home country in June. You have to let them go! If you are a family that can look at this list and say YES to everything and have a sense of adventure and excitement about having a foreign student become part of your life, and they of your life, you just might be the right person/people to host an AFS student from one of nearly 50 different countries. If you think you might be the right family for this, or if you have many questions (and all prospective hosting families do), talk to AFS in one of several ways: By computer www.usa.afs.org By phone: 1-800-AFS INFO (1-800-237-4636) Or a Local Volunteer
	AFS Head of the Lakes Area Serving Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin

Welcome to AFS

Head of the Lakes Area

Serving Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin

Home Page AFS Head of Lakes

Emergency Contact Information

Calendar of Events

Hosting a Student

Going Abroad

Local Area / School Links

Student Travel Guidelines

HOSTING AN EXCHANGE STUDENT

ARE YOU READY TO HOST A FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT?

_____1. Do you have a house or apartment?

_____2. Do you have a spare bed? (can share room, but needs own bed)

_____3. Is there the desire (heart)? - Everybody in the family wants to, or is willing to give the addition of a foreign teenager to your family a very sincere try. Family is defined as the providing of a caring and nurturing home, and that means a family can be single people, single parents, adults without kids, adults with kids at home, empty nesters, and whatever other configuration will provide a quality experience for someone else’s child from a foreign country. AFS carefully screens and interviews all students coming to the U.S., and, likewise, people sending their kids to the U.S. will expect that AFS interviews all families wanting to host a student, and we do.

_____4. Are you open minded and willing to learn about and accept or accommodate cultural differences, as the AFS student will NOT sound, act, or necessarily have the same beliefs and behaviors as you?

_____5. Are you willing to provide transportation? (AFS students cannot drive)

_____6. Can you accept some expense? You have no expenses getting them here and home, they have health insurance, and students are to bring spending money for clothes, personal items and most school expenses, but food, lodging and transportation are expected to be the responsibility of the host family. There is a charitable contribution allowance from the US government of about $500 for having a foreign exchange student.

_____7. Will you have your student present for the required AFS functions during the year?

_____8. Are you willing to talk about “how’s it going?” with a local AFS liaison contact each month, as is part of our agreement with the government to keep track of our kids.

_____9. And if you fall in love with your student, they are required to go back to their home country in June. You have to let them go!

If you are a family that can look at this list and say YES to everything and have a sense of adventure and excitement about having a foreign student become part of your life, and they of your life, you just might be the right person/people to host an AFS student from one of nearly 50 different countries. If you think you might be the right family for this, or if you have many questions (and all prospective hosting families do), talk to AFS in one of several ways:

By computer www.usa.afs.org
By phone: 1-800-AFS INFO (1-800-237-4636)
Or a Local Volunteer

AFS Head of the Lakes Area Serving Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin