This document provides information and suggestions for organizing short-term student exchange programs and trips abroad for high school students. It discusses benefits of such programs including language immersion, cultural experiences, and lifelong connections. It also addresses challenges and provides detailed recommendations for planning activities, communicating with families, handling logistics, and ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all participants.
3. Benefits
Language immersion
More likely to study abroad in college
Unique opportunity
Experience life in another culture
Lifelong friends/connections
Become global citizens
Broadens prospective of own country
4.
5. Challenges
School administration
School policies
Bad past experiences with tours
Students/teachers missing school
Parents
Financial
Fears
Planning
6.
7. Getting started
Arrange for group from abroad to
come to your school first. Groups
come early September or January, so
start planning year prior
Find organization to work with
“home stay” vs. “exchange”
Make a flyer for all FL teachers to hand
out and talk it up in classes/clubs*
8.
9. Ways to recruit more families
Extend personal invitations to families
you know
Have information available at
Parent/Teacher nights, other school
events
Ask enthusiastic students to help
recruit their friends
Include in School Newsletters, send
email out to all families in school
10. Planning the Visit: Part I
Hold a meeting for all
students/parents interested in
helping with the plans
Set up Edline/other online group
Create an online calendar
Recruit parents to help
organize/chaperone specific events
11. Calendar of Events*
Include after-school options almost every
day, more in beginning of stay
After school & weekend activities are optional if
the family has something else planned, but keep
in mind students generally like to be together
Have brief before-school meetings and
after-school meet-ups (help arrange rides)
Help make arrangements for guests whose host
brother/sister works or is on a team, etc.
If travel organization has planned some
activities, see if you can attend.
12. Party Ideas
Welcome Party/Barbecue
Day of arrival or following day, all family
members encouraged to attend
Ask for families to volunteer their house
Food donations or assign each family
something to contribute
Goodbye Party/Gathering
Host house or restaurant/pizza parlor
15. Weekend Ideas
Shopping mall
Trip to city
Sporting events
Theater events
Family gatherings
College visits
Short trips to places such as Galena, Starved Rock,
etc.
Boat trip
Concert
Church
16.
17. Field Trip Ideas
Meet the Mayor Trip to City
Local attractions Scavenger hunt
Local museums Guided tours
Amusement park Boat ride
Local college visit
Local sports
Fire station
Theater
18.
19.
20.
21. After-School Ideas
Dodge ball game Any school events
School sport Cooking/Baking
events Barbeque
Ice-cream, FroYo Mini Golf
parlor Movie night
Laser Tag
Bowling
Shopping Mall
Arcade
22. In-School Ideas
Shadow host brother/sister (2 days,
max.)
Shadow someone new (FL Club, etc.)
Split into small groups and spend day
talking to foreign language classes
Subject of choice day (PE, Art, Music,
etc.)
Spanish Class Parties
23.
24. Planning the Visit: Part 2
Work with teacher from other country to
match students
Note: food allergies, age, animal fears/allergies,
introvert, extrovert, sports, interests
Begin communication among students and
families
Create Facebook page for group
Add all members, share pictures of school, etc.
Exchange email addresses
25. Planning the Visit: Part 3
School approval
Field trips/subs, etc
Outside activities
School lunches
Bus to school
School publicity/marketing
School marquis/sign
Bulletin boards
Newsletters
Press Release
26. Planning the visit: Part 4
Make arrangements for all field
trips/outside activities
Don’t forget tax exempt papers if
applicable
Keep list of all contacts
Confirm all events two days prior
Make transportation arrangements as
needed
Encourage family carpools
27. Planning the Visit: Part 4
Set up several means of
communication
Email Group
Edline Group
Facebook Page
Text Groups
Host Information Sheets
Evites
Twitter
28. Planning the Visit: Part 5
Hold a mandatory meeting for all parents/students 1-
2 weeks before arrival of group
Introduce everyone, facilitate friendships
General information on group, country of origin, etc.,
main differences in customs, habits, etc.
Go over calendar
Hand out permission slips, contact information, etc.
How to be a good host family
What to do in case of problems
Who pays for what? (Students have their own
spending money but if going to a restaurant or
somewhere as a family, please pay for your guest)
29. Arrival!
Each host family should have at least
one person to greet and pick up
student
Get notification from organization or
teacher from abroad when group is
within half-hour from pick-up location
and send out texts to families.
Greet with: welcome signs, balloons,
etc.
31. Once Home…
Be aware of time difference/jet lag
Speak slowly and clearly, repeat if needed
Ask to see pictures of their family, house, etc.
Introduce all family members/photos of any not present
Typical family routines, rules
What to do with laundry
If sharing a bathroom, discuss shower routines
Provide towels, ask if they need any other toiletries or
forgot anything
Discuss use of electronics, WIFI, etc. and
communicating with home
32.
33. First School Days
All teachers in school should have been notified of
guests shadowing host brothers/sisters
All host brothers and sisters and guests meet in
classroom before school
Welcome!
See if principal or other administrator can greet
Discuss school rules/expectations (stay with host!)
Tour
Allow visiting teacher to talk to his/her group. Make
sure all is well.
Meet after school if going to event, help arrange
carpools, etc.
34. Possible Issues
Student unhappy with host family,
vice-versa
Someone in family gets ill
Host student gets ill
Misbehavior
Drinking, parties, etc.
Student doesn’t have enough money
36. Length and Dates
Typically two weeks in length.
Typically over Easter or Christmas
break, plus miss some days of school
37. What to Look for in a
Travel Organization
Easy to contact representatives any time of
day, ease of communication, quick responses
Flexibility of programs (dates, excursions,
etc.)
References. Call other school who have used
them before
How long have they been in business? Try to
Google the name of company + complaints
38. What should be included:
Round trip airfare (including luggage)
from your local city
Bus/train transportation with escort
from airport to final destination
Hotel stays as needed (check website
or references for hotels)
Some meals during hotel stays
Guided tours
Travel insurance
39. Promote the Trip
Hand out information to interested
students*
School announcements, newsletter,
posters, website, etc.
Visit school FL clubs, FL Honor
Society meetings
You generally need more student
participants than group tours, usually
12+
40.
41. Participants Must APPLY*
Require students to apply to the
program and provide teacher
signatures, references and possibly
write in target language. Give
approximately two weeks until
deadline.
42. Informative Meeting
Schedule a meeting in the evening so
parents can attend. (approximately one
hour)
Hand out information/itinerary provided by
organization
Organization may provide slideshow
Introduce yourself and other chaperones.
Tell qualifications and why you are excited
about this trip
Answer questions
Go over payment plans, etc.
43. Acceptance Letters*
Send a list of applicants to school deans,
guidance counselors and business office
(private schools) to get their approval of
applicants.
Talk to other teachers, check references as
needed.
Send letter of acceptance/or denial to
applicants*
Include information on how to sign up
Include Parent Consent Form
Include date of first meeting
44. Paperwork
Fortunately, many organizations now
provide ways for parents to submit
papers and payments directly online.
This is very helpful and is something
you may want to ask when shopping
for an organization.
45. Your Group
Once students have been accepted
and have paid 1st non-refundable
deposit, you will know exactly who
will be part of the group.
Hold bi-weekly meetings before or
after school. You may want to have
them every month and as the trip
gets closer, every other week, and
then every week.
46.
47. Meeting Topics
RULES Famous artists, authors, etc.
What to expect from your destination
Food General
Clothing geography/history/politics of
Tips area
Greetings DVDs on the location
Other cultural differences Passports
Weather Notarized travel form for
What to bring students under 18
Voltage, outlets What to buy
Money Travel safety
Photos to show host family Useful/essential vocabulary
Gift for host family Culture shock/jet lag
Local chocolate
Book on your city
Local team gear
48. Reminders
Remind all teachers of students
attending and days they will be
absent. Ask them to consider giving
them assignments related to their trip
to make up for missed work.
49. T-shirts
Consider having a group T-shirt made
to all wear while traveling on the
plane and home. Consider ordering
one for host brother/sister. Makes a
great gift! (I use CustomInk.com
online to design and order)
51. Passports
Tell students not to take Passports with
them when going to school, shopping etc.
Students should make four copies of
passports…leave one at home with parents,
give each group leader a copy and keep a
copy.
You will need your actual passport (not a
copy) when going to banks to exchange
money
52. Communicating with home
Many homes have WIFI, bigger cities with
McDonalds, Starbucks, etc. will have WIFI
You can buy a cheap pay-as-you-go cell
phone
Many countries have phone booth joints
where you can go in and make long
distance calls for very reasonable prices.
There are phone apps for free chatting.
WhatsApp
53. Blogging/Facebook
You can find free sites for blogging,
such as Blogspot.com. Create a
group blog and add all members as
administrators. Have students add
pictures, stories.
You can make a Facebook Page for
your group and students can upload
photos and comments.