Orientation for Host Families
Rotary District 5010
Yukon and Alaska
1
Introduction
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Welcome
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Our goal – Making World A Better Place
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Thank you for your participation !!!
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Five Areas in Our Rotary Club
District
1
Fairbanks Area, Nome and Barrow
2
3
Kenai Area:
Homer, Kodiak, Seward, Soldotna,
Anchorage: Eagle River to Girdwood
4
Mat-Su: Palmer to Susitna
5
Southeast: Ketchikan to Whitehorse
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District 5010 Organization
District Chair
Outbound Chair
Inbound Chair
District 5010 Host Family Orientation
Rebound
Chair
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What You Will Learn Today
Closeness of new friends (family of Rotary)
 Rotary expectations
 Helpful ideas for you
 Calendar of activities
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CHALLENGES FOR THE ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT
ARE MANY
Community
Host
Families
School
Exchange
Student /
Rotary
YEO
Host
Rotary
Club
Friends in
High School
Host
Rotary
District
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Rotary Support Structure
Rotary Club
 Rotary Youth Exchange Committee
 Rotary Youth Exchange Officer (YEO)
 Counselor

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Youth Exchange Officer
Responsibilities

Maintain contact with student and family
– Show continued interest & support
– Resolve problems before problems get big
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Register student at school & monitor performance
Ensure that student receives monthly allowance
Keep club YE committee informed
Get Rotary club membership involved
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Items Rotary YEO Must Hold
for Student
Prepaid return airline E-ticket information
 Emergency fund ($500) deposited in local
Rotary Club bank account
 Copies of Passport, Visas (US and
Canadian) and Department of State Form
DS-2019

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Student Challenges
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Adapting to host families and new culture
Attending and doing well in school
Homesickness & making close friends
Speaking English
Following the rules of Rotary
Getting involved in Rotary club and
community
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A Host Family is expected to:
Treat student as member of the family
 Delegate daily responsibilities and chores in
the home
 Assist student in finding the right friends
 Be prepared to say “No” when appropriate
 Ensure students dress & present themselves
appropriately

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Sample Family Rules
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“Be on time”
“Be home by 10pm curfew”
“Call to let us know where you are”
“Finish homework”
“No telephone/computer after 10pm”
“Help with chores (cleaning dishes, mowing lawn,
etc.)”
See dual-language “First Night Questions” to ask on
www.yeoresources.org
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Use of Telephone
Explain how it works; set rules for use
 Limit calls to country (family, friends)

– Helps them to overcome homesickness
Explain phone charges
 Ask student to obtain telephone calling card
for calls home
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Computer Use
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Limit the students’ time on computer
Limit or prohibit downloading videos, etc.
(monitor bills for excessive use)
Explain no visits to pornography sites, etc.
Limit the use of Instant Message programs
(Skype, etc.) to 30 minutes a week
Encourage weekly or monthly blogs, or group emails, to keep friends and family informed
– Makes adapting to new culture more difficult
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Expectations at School
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Ensure clear understanding of school credit
Usually “not allowed to graduate”
Remind them to say “thank you” to school
teachers
Ensure regular class attendance and proper
attention to school work (leave cell phone off,
don’t wear iPod headphones in hallway or class)
Ensure missed school work will be completed
– Rotary will take students out of school at times
– They are expected to make up work
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Varsity Sports at School

Students who have already graduated cannot play
on varsity team (see Alaska school rules)
– May be able play on junior varsity (JV)
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Participation in varsity athletics requires approval
from state association (and costs money)
– School has association paperwork
– Student is expected to pay own costs for sports and
fundraise with the team
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Making Close Friends
A major challenge to YE students
 Help the student find clubs to join
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Interact (a Rotary Program in many schools)
Sports at the gym or other program
Theater, Drama-Debate-Forensics (DDF) team
Band, orchestra, choir
Active participation in ANY activity is a
good cure for homesickness
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Limit Visits with Other
Exchange Students
Rotary provides many opportunities for
exchange students to get together
 Their goal is to make friends from here
 Rotary does not allow independent travel
outside of the community where a student is
being hosted

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Speak English
This can be major problem
 Ensure students actively work to improve
speaking skills by talking regularly
 Help them by talking to them and correcting
their English
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Rules of Rotary
No drinking
 No driving

– including drivers’ education class
No serious dating or sexual contact
 Obey the law
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– No smoking
– No drugs
– No shoplifting, etc.
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The Six Be’s
Be First - I am a person of action!
 Be Curious – I seek to understand!
 Be on Purpose – I am certain of my
outcome and move steadily toward it!
 Be Grateful – I focus on things I can be
thankful for!
 Be of Service – I give of myself!
 Be Here Now – I live in the moment!
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Problem Solving
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Some problems will occur
Student should ask for help, in this order
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–
–
–
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Host family
Club counselor
Club Youth Exchange Officer
District Youth Exchange Committee
Host families must not let small problems become
big problems. Ask for help.
– Club counselor
– Club Youth Exchange Officer
– District Youth Exchange Committee
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Student Protection Guidelines
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What to do if your exchange student tells you of
harassment and/or abuse
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–
–
–
Listen attentively & let him/her know it was right to tell you
Assure him/her that they are not to blame
Remain calm and make sure student feels safe
Encourage student to share with you what happened and who
was involved
– Make detailed notes including date, place & time
– Don’t promise to keep secrets & explain the necessity of
informing the District Chair
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Student Protection Guidelines
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Keep communications open
– Assure student that you can jointly address his/her
concerns and problems
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Report the case to the District Chair and the Club
YEO immediately
Don’t investigate
– Leave this to the proper authorities

Support the student emotionally
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Student Protection Guidelines
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District 5010 has two non-Rotarian Counselors
– Male Counselor – Dr. David Holladay
Home phone: 907-355-8278
 Office phone: 907-745-7080
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– Female Counselor – Kaye Zwiacher, M.D.
Home phone: 907-715-4442
 Office phone: 907-694-2244
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Getting Students Involved
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Active involvement in Rotary and community
essential to be good ambassador
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Attend Rotary meetings on a regular basis
Attend orientations for Rotary students
Give programs to Rotary clubs
Give programs to schools and other clubs
Help student to say “yes” and to be proud to be a
good ambassador for their country and Rotary
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Activities
Sharing family activities (even if it’s not
their favorite thing to do)
 Rotary Club

– Attend Meetings and socials
– Participate in Rotary Fundraisers (ShelterBox)
– Other activities
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District (see following slides)
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Rotary District Activities

Inbound Orientation - September
– Brings Inbound and recently returned students together for training
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Winter Orientation – January
– Introduction for the new class of Outbounds to meet other students
and receive their country assignments

District Conference – May or June
– Students meet with Rotarians from the District at the annual
meeting

Local or Area meeting opportunities
– Varies by area, might be a weekend or day-long orientation gettogether
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Student’s Role as an
Ambassador
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Students portray their whole country
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By their attitude
By their decisions
By their appearance
By their willingness to do for others
Students make a difference; so much depends on
their desire to be ambassador
Reminders from host family and YEO’s needed
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Some Last Requests
Please consider helping us find others who
would be willing to be a host family for our
program
 Encourage kids you may know to learn
about Rotary Youth Exchange and consider
applying to spend a year abroad

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Summary

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!
– We have a great year planned
– Program would not work without dedicated
committee members, host families and friends
like you
– We are more than eager to help with questions
– just ask!
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Where to get more information

District Committee
– - District Chair – Tom Martin
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Phone: 907-252-5052
E-mail: planyourfuture@hotmail.com
– - Inbound Chair – Sally Saddler
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Phone: 907-723-2114
E-mail: teal@gci.net
Rotary District 5010 Youth Exchange website
www.rye5010.org
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