How to be a host family for a foreign exchange student

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A group of foreign exchange students are asking the community for help in making their dreams of studying abroad come true.

Christie Peschka-Santillan is a local coordinator for Academic Year in America, a national foreign exchange program where hundreds of international students apply in hopes of studying in the United States.

The non-profit organization was founded by the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1967, with a mission to understanding different countries and people through cultural exchange, according to the Academic Year in America’s website.

“We do have kids from all over the world that come, they’re high school students, and they come for a 10-month academic year. For the most part, it’s best for them to come for the academic year, simply because they get the full range of opportunities that are available,” Peschka-Santillan said.

Peschka-Santillan says there’s not enough host families for all the kids who want to be foreign-exchange students. She’s putting her trust in the El Paso community to show up to help these kids.

“It’s really tough. If I talk to 40 people, I’ll only get three yeses. It’s not easy,” she said.

“They start applying two years, a year and a half to two years before they arrive, so it’s a long process for them. They do get vetted on their end. There’s an interview process, an application process, a screening process before they are actually sent to us,” Peschka-Santillan said.

The program is very competitive and students are only allowed one shot at their study abroad programs, due to their J-1 visas.

The visas are only available for one year, and if that student needs to go home in case of an emergency or any other situation, they do not get another shot to come back to finish the school year or re-enter the program.

How do you become a host family? Peschka-Santillan says it’s a pretty easy process with filling out an application and passing a background check.

“The best thing for them to do is that they reach out to me for more detailed information. The family will fill out an application. We do a background check and call two references. I go over and visit. I do have to get permission from the district, so I reach out to them to get permission to enroll them,” Peschka-Santillan said.

She says after the host family has done all the necessary steps, they can start looking at student’s profiles to get to know them a little.

There are two files. One is called a lead file and that is an overview of the child without the photos. The other file is a detailed profile that once the host family is ready to house an exchange student, they can get access to seeing photos of the child and watch an introductory video.

People interested think about the most important question: “What things do I need to provide for the exchange student?”

“The kids are fully insured. They have their own spending money, so really, host families are responsible for providing them with a place to stay and with meals,” Peschka-Santillan said.

All other costs, such as entertainment, toiletries and travel expenses are all supposed to be covered through the international student’s family.

While the students are here to study, the program also has the teens participate in community service events.

The benefit? Participating stucents gain an understanding of the world that is greater than their own backyard.

“I think the greatest benefit is to share your culture. Not only are we sharing our culture with them, but they’re also sharing their culture with us,” Peschka-Santillan said.

Many host families have set up traditions with the exchange students for the holidays or even dinner time, and Peschka-Santillan says those little bits of exchanging cultures is going to stick with both parties for life.

“The goal there is to smooth relations over so that we’re aiming more towards peace, instill that Americans are open-minded, that we can have similar ideals that our religion or our political beliefs don’t separate us that widely. We can get along and we can live peacefully,” Peschka-Santillan said.

If you are interested in becoming a host family or you have more questions about becoming a host family, you can contact Peschka-Santillan at (915) 449-2128 or visit Academic Year in America.

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