Short Term Youth Exchange Program -ages 15 to 19.
Rotary Short-term exchanges last from a few weeks to over a month and often take place when school is not in session. On average it is a 4 week stay between the months of May and September. It involves and American student exchanging with a foreign student and each of their respective families. Both are matched by our Rotary Team and then the final approval comes from the respective families. The countries we are using this year are Argentina, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany. We have been in the past able to place in Sweden and Japan but there is no guarantee of the country of exchange. The student and the family are both very involved in the exchange. There is a mandatory training session in March 2018 in Rock Falls for the student and parents. The student needs a sponsoring Rotary Club. There is an official Rotary Club application currently on our District website that the student and family must fill out. After that, the student submits 4 copies to the sponsoring Rotary Club. The Club will be responsible in deciding who is approved and then will pay $300 to the District for each student they are sponsoring. The 4 applications need to be signed by the Club president and YEO and sent with the $300 check by December 31st, 2017 to Kerrylyn Rodriguez, 1251 W. Stephenson St. Freeport, IL 61032. Questions can be directed to her at 815-541-5660.
The cost to the student is airfare, insurance, and travel costs. The host family usually picks up the cost of the extra student while they live with them. Some Rotary Clubs give a stipend of $1000 towards airfare. Average cost of student varies but usually is the airfare which the family arranges on their own.
Each Rotary club can choose how many students they want to go. It is recommended to do an interview. Craig Beintema of Freeport Noon Rotary cell 815-541-0754 can assist in helping any club start the process.