1 Become a Rotary Youth Exchange Success Story Energize YOUR Club and Make a Difference in the World One Student at a Time

2 Why should Your Club do Youth Exchange? Energize the club members & families Makes it more fun to be a Rotarian Creates connections with local schools Creates connections with local non- Rotarians Great PR opportunities

3 Our Suggestions include: 1. How to have Happy Inbound Students 2. How to recruit Excited Outbound Students 3. How to recruit Dedicated Host Families

How to made it happen… Leadership + Youth Exchange Committee + Club Members + Community Members Excited Outbound Students + Happy Inbound Students + Host Families 4

5 Leadership Your job as a leader is to create, document, and continuously communicate your vision How do you do that? Well, here are some ideas...

6 Required... All students and host families need written instructions for all important parts of the exchange, and make sure that pertinent information goes quickly to the right people

7 Youth Exchange Committee Hosting an Inbound Student and Recruiting Outbound Students is a wonderful but demanding task. Your Club’s Youth Exchange Committee Your Club does not have to have ONE chair person Instead, all procedures and all the tasks can be evenly delegated among the members of the Youth Exchange Committee This will make the tasks easier and everyone will have more fun and energy

Youth Exchange Committee If all the tasks and procedures are documented well, your Club’s Youth Exchange Program will continue for future years. 8

Club Members FACT: Pretty much every Inbound Student is worried about not having any friends SOLUTION: Club Members - go out of your way to make the exchange as easy and pleasurable both the host families and the students. 9

10 Club Members CLUB MEMBERS - help out by inviting the students to their homes on a weekly basis. Have an Interact Club? Ask them to create processes to help the students feel welcome at school.

Community Members Many students and parents think about youth exchange or language trips. Reminder: Rotary Youth Exchange is safe and affordable. All you need is to get the word out to the public by TALKING with Community Members. Reminder: Compare our program with others! 11

12 Proven ways to Recruit Outbound Students Your club members: Present to club in April and August Educate all high school counselors: In April and August/September, setup a meeting with all counselors in a school. Use available marketing materials and leave behind written materials. Explain how safe, fun, and affordable it is. Compare with other programs Motivate your inbound students to help with recruiting

13 Proven Ways to Recruit Outbound Students Use the 4 opportunities for newspaper articles: 1. Inbound students after arrival (August/September) 2. Outbound students when they have their host country (February/March) 3. Rebound long term students (June/July) 4. Rebound short term students (July/August) Share YE with everybody. The parents and kids needs to start thinking about it when the kid is so they are mentally prepared to apply when they are Remember: Be selective! This program is not for everybody

14 Inbound Students Have a plan - to make the student feel loved and help them fight home sickness.

15 Happy Inbound Students The Youth Exchange Committee should continually look for activities that the student can join. Drawing on past experience, have a list of activities that past students have enjoyed Make sure the student is signed up for after school activities Make sure they don’t have much time to feel homesick.

16 Before the Student Arrives 1. Counselor and host families need to communicate continuously with the student from the moment you receive the application 2. Coach host families on the importance of signing up the student in after hours activities and look for friends in advance 3. Coach the host family and Rotarians so you have a welcome group at the airport. 4. Plan the welcome party (include students from the hosting school)

17 After the Student is Here 1. Make sure he or she is signed up for after hours activities 2. Once a week, a different club member takes the student home/out for dinner, activities, etc. 3. Have student come to every club meeting 4. Have Chair and Counselor fix problems before they happen

Host Families The Youth Exchange Committee is always on the lookout for ways to help the Host Family 18

19 Recruiting Host Families Myth: Rotarians will selflessly volunteer to be host families Reality: 1. Parents host because they want their kids exposed to a student from another country and culture 2. Host families without kids do it because it’s fun and interesting

20 Recruiting Host Families Myth: It’s best to wait with hosting until my kids are about the same age Reality: 1. The only time we have problems with kids/YE student interactions is when they are the same age. 2. Families with small kids are great because small kids are the best language teachers

21 Recruiting Host Families Where do I find the host families? 1. Rotarians (that’s why the weekly dinners/activities are so important) 2. Scan (in color) the students picture and student letter and the PDF file to all club members 3. Mothers at soccer, swim, etc. practice 4. Neighbors and friends. If they have kids, speak to the home maker Be selective! Not everybody is cut out to be a great host family!

22 Host Families 1. Make sure that the host family feels supported by the club 2. Train them well before the student arrives 3. The counselor needs to be proactive and talk to the Host Family 4. Go out of your way to make sure they feel loved and appreciated

23 Marketing Materials Public Relations: Educate your club, Publish newspaper articles, etc. PowerPoints that are available on your District’s Web Site. Save the files on your computer and show it to your youth clubs and school counselors YouTube: Search YouTube for some wonderful student made presentations Facebook: District 6600 Youth Exchange has a Facebook Page that shows what the students have been doing in the past Poster and Brochure: District 6600 has some material available (put your own identification information on them) Print up Business Cards with your information

24 Now get started… 1. Create, document, and communicate your vision for your Club’s Youth Exchange Program 2. Plan to make your Inbound Students and Host Families happy 3. Be ready to more fun than you have ever had before in Rotary!

Thank You YOU will make a DIFFERENCE in One Student’s Life and the World 25