BERLIN–Visiting international exchange students are looking for host families for the upcoming school year.
International Experience-USA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Northfield, Minn., is seeking housing for students ages 15-18 from countries including Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand.
Brothers Kevin and Thomas Gilner founded the organization in 2002.
“Their father was a high school principal in the D.C. area for many, many years, and he was one of the original people affiliated with student exchange when student exchange became a thing in the 1950s,” said Regional Director Joseph Bissell-Maynard. “Their father was very involved with student exchange from the start. They had people in and out of their homes their whole lives, and their father instilled in them a lot of the passion that they have now.”
When Germany began sending exchange students into the U.S., the Gilners, who have dual citizenship in both countries, decided they could do it better.
“We do a really, really good job of making sure our students are prepared for this program,” Bissell-Maynard said. “A lot of people say they carefully select the students, but I’m telling you they don’t. I have so many high school principals that tell me, ‘I took two students last year that couldn’t speak English.’ We really do carefully select the students and make sure we have students that aren’t only mature, but they’re emotionally able to handle the experience.”
IE-USA conducts in-home interviews to vet each student. Students then attend a three-day orientation with IE staff and local coordinators from the U.S.
“They’re not just a piece of paper – we actually know who these kids are,” Bissell-Maynard said. “That makes a big difference.”
The company facilitates exchanges with 375 public high school exchange students each year. A J-1 Visa sponsor, the organization is chartered by the U.S. Department of State.
“They consider it a diplomacy program,” said Bissell-Maynard. “These kids are coming as diplomats, so it’s all about bringing the world closer together, having a cultural experience, teaching American kids what it’s like in their country from a different perspective, and hopefully going home and saying wonderful things about us. That’s the goal.”
For the student, the bottom line is getting a better education.
“That’s all it’s about for them,” said Bissell-Maynard. “But it’s become more and more challenging every year to find host families because there’s an influx of international students.”
Bissell-Maynard said small towns, like Berlin, provide the ideal experience for exchange students.
“We find that the people in smaller towns are much more open to this opportunity,” he said. “I come from a town of 500 people, so I have a biased opinion, but I feel that people in small towns are more generous and more willing to open their homes than people in the city.”
Host families receive tax credits for each student in exchange for providing room and board for students. Students have liability travel and health insurance, and generally bring around $300 a month in spending money.
“Realistically speaking, you’re making a little extra food when you cook,” Bissell-Maynard said.
Bissell-Maynard himself has hosted six students.
“I starting doing this as a host parent and I fell in love with it so much that I wanted to do more, and I continued to do more until the next thing I knew I was running half the program. You really get an amazing perspective of another culture, and you gain a member of the family. The first kid I hosted is finishing graduate school now and is talking about starting a family, and he considers me his dad. He calls me constantly; we Skype all the time. He’s come to visit me six times and I’ve been to visit him four times since he’s been gone. We’re family.
“All of the kids I’ve hosted are my kids – I would do anything for them,” Bissell-Maynard continued. “And there’s nothing more powerful as far as being able to understand another culture then when you have someone in your house for 10 months. If you’re hosting a kid from Iraq and you’re washing their soccer clothes and you’re spraying odor eaters in their shoes and you’re feeding them – basic things you do with any teenager – it’s really hard to have a bad opinion of their country. You hear people say, ‘oh, drop bombs on the place – just kill them all.’ Take a kid from Iraq in your house for a year and you will completely change your mind. That’s what this is all about.”
IE-USA has roughly 100 students still looking for placement in the U.S. for the next school year.
For more information call 517-455-7518 or visit www.iE-USA.org.
International Experience-USA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Northfield, Minn., is seeking housing for students ages 15-18 from countries including Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand.
Brothers Kevin and Thomas Gilner founded the organization in 2002.
“Their father was a high school principal in the D.C. area for many, many years, and he was one of the original people affiliated with student exchange when student exchange became a thing in the 1950s,” said Regional Director Joseph Bissell-Maynard. “Their father was very involved with student exchange from the start. They had people in and out of their homes their whole lives, and their father instilled in them a lot of the passion that they have now.”
When Germany began sending exchange students into the U.S., the Gilners, who have dual citizenship in both countries, decided they could do it better.
“We do a really, really good job of making sure our students are prepared for this program,” Bissell-Maynard said. “A lot of people say they carefully select the students, but I’m telling you they don’t. I have so many high school principals that tell me, ‘I took two students last year that couldn’t speak English.’ We really do carefully select the students and make sure we have students that aren’t only mature, but they’re emotionally able to handle the experience.”
IE-USA conducts in-home interviews to vet each student. Students then attend a three-day orientation with IE staff and local coordinators from the U.S.
“They’re not just a piece of paper – we actually know who these kids are,” Bissell-Maynard said. “That makes a big difference.”
The company facilitates exchanges with 375 public high school exchange students each year. A J-1 Visa sponsor, the organization is chartered by the U.S. Department of State.
“They consider it a diplomacy program,” said Bissell-Maynard. “These kids are coming as diplomats, so it’s all about bringing the world closer together, having a cultural experience, teaching American kids what it’s like in their country from a different perspective, and hopefully going home and saying wonderful things about us. That’s the goal.”
For the student, the bottom line is getting a better education.
“That’s all it’s about for them,” said Bissell-Maynard. “But it’s become more and more challenging every year to find host families because there’s an influx of international students.”
Bissell-Maynard said small towns, like Berlin, provide the ideal experience for exchange students.
“We find that the people in smaller towns are much more open to this opportunity,” he said. “I come from a town of 500 people, so I have a biased opinion, but I feel that people in small towns are more generous and more willing to open their homes than people in the city.”
Host families receive tax credits for each student in exchange for providing room and board for students. Students have liability travel and health insurance, and generally bring around $300 a month in spending money.
“Realistically speaking, you’re making a little extra food when you cook,” Bissell-Maynard said.
Bissell-Maynard himself has hosted six students.
“I starting doing this as a host parent and I fell in love with it so much that I wanted to do more, and I continued to do more until the next thing I knew I was running half the program. You really get an amazing perspective of another culture, and you gain a member of the family. The first kid I hosted is finishing graduate school now and is talking about starting a family, and he considers me his dad. He calls me constantly; we Skype all the time. He’s come to visit me six times and I’ve been to visit him four times since he’s been gone. We’re family.
“All of the kids I’ve hosted are my kids – I would do anything for them,” Bissell-Maynard continued. “And there’s nothing more powerful as far as being able to understand another culture then when you have someone in your house for 10 months. If you’re hosting a kid from Iraq and you’re washing their soccer clothes and you’re spraying odor eaters in their shoes and you’re feeding them – basic things you do with any teenager – it’s really hard to have a bad opinion of their country. You hear people say, ‘oh, drop bombs on the place – just kill them all.’ Take a kid from Iraq in your house for a year and you will completely change your mind. That’s what this is all about.”
IE-USA has roughly 100 students still looking for placement in the U.S. for the next school year.
For more information call 517-455-7518 or visit www.iE-USA.org.