2011

Dear Potential Family,

For someone interested in other cultures and languages, the next best thing to visiting a foreign country is making foreign friends. To that end, every year I search for families willing to host an exchange student so they can attend local high schools in central New York, and further enhance the exchange and connection between Central New York and other countries and cultures.

It is my hope that you might be such a family. Our exchange students attend your local high school for the entire school year and are in the U.S. for 10 months, including a 2-week orientation in Seattle. Families that would be suitable home stay families are those that can:

• commit to hosting a student for either one semester or the entire academic year;
• provide moral support and advice regarding day-to-day concerns that may arise. Living in a foreign country, even for this brief time span, can be a lonely and intimidating experience. The host family will share their lives with the exchange student. Not only will this help the student overcome homesickness and become quickly adapted to American life, it will also help the student become immersed in American family life. The host parents become the exchange student's parents and, indeed, the host family becomes a substitute family. The exchange student looks forward to being included in family activities, including chores.
• provide room and board for the duration of the commitment that has been made to the host school. A student can share a bedroom with a host sibling of the same sex, but should have his/her own bed, study space, and storage space.
• arrange some means of transportation between the host family's home and the host school, either school bus, public transportation, riding with host family, walking, or bicycle.

Each time Central New York has been able to host exchange students, the benefit to the high schools they've attended, the host family and the wider community, and has been
immeasurable. So, while I understand the level of commitment involved in welcoming a stranger into one's home and family, I ask that you consider becoming a host family for the 2011-2012 school year.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Dan May

315-668-5278

www.cnycorp.com

Home