seeking host families

[James Kerr]

My name is James Kerr. I am a retired high school teacher from Troy, Il. I also 
work as a Lecturer in the History Dept. at Southern Illinois University 
Edwardsville. I have been working as a volunteer for about ten years for a 
nongovernmental agency in Washington, DC, American Councils for 
International Education. American Councils works to place high school 
students who have won scholarships sponsored by the US Dept. of State for 
study in American high schools. These programs include FLEX (Future Leaders 
Exchange,) for students from the nations of the former Soviet Union, YES 
(Youth Exchange Study) for students from some nations in Southeastern 
Europe, and A-SMYLE (American-Serbian and Montenegro Youth Exchange.) 
Recently, the US Embassy in Lithuania organized a new program funded by the 
State Dept. and called ExCEL. 

 

Currently, I am working to place several students from Russia and Ukraine, 
several of the students from Lithuania (who were just notified several weeks 
ago,) and a number of students from Serbia, Albania, and Kosovo. All the 
students will arrive in August for the beginning of the school year. Typically 
these students arrive in August and depart in May or June of the next year. 
They are required to maintain a “B” average in their schools and must 
complete a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer service. Host families must 
provide a place to sleep, a place to study, three meals and a snack daily, and 
transportation to and from school and school activities. The students receive 
a monthly stipend from the State Dept. for incidental expenses and come with 
full health insurance coverage. 

 

Last year I worked with eight students in the St. Louis area. Four of the eight 
maintained straight “A” averages in their respective schools. This year 
presents even greater challenges finding host families. I fear that these 
students may lose the scholarships they earned. That is why I am making a 
contact via listserve. I am looking for help and I am looking for suggestions. As 
you can imagine, in this economy it is difficult to find host families. 

 

If you know of a host family who would be interested in one of these 
students, please reply to this e-mail. If you would like to respond to the 
placement agency, I have listed a contact person below. I deeply appreciate 
your assistance. More importantly, the experiences that these students have 
could make a difference in the years to come. Thanks again.

 

James Kerr PhD

Local Coordinator

618 667 9858

jekerr at charter.net

 

Brian Peterson

Program Officer - Secondary School Programs

American Councils for International Education

1828 L Street NW, Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20036

BPeterson at americancouncils.org

 

 

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