District 7430 Youth Exchange - Newsletter

The Class of 2005-06 has returned! Or at least most of them did. The class met this past Sunday, August 13^th; at Wentz Run Park in Blue Bell from 12 to 4 PM. Food and stories were shared by all. Besides the returning class of students, joining the committee were students(Rotex) from years past, Sarah Huskin(Chile), Asia Carraby(Chile) and Lindy Rote (Argentina). Many laughs and a tear or two were shared by all.

Bon Voyage!

Seven students have departed so far, three to Brazil, one to Peru, Russia, Germany and to Switzerland. Switzerland hasn’t checked in yet but you can read about the first few days from the others on our website, www.rotary7430yep.org under E-mails from abroad. The majority of the remaining outbounds will be heading out in the upcoming week to ten days. Look for their stories on the website as well as some pictures.

Welcome!

The first of our inbound students should be arriving any day now. We will be hosting 16 students from 16 different countries. It should be a very colorful flag ceremony this year at the District Conference in the Poconos. A first for the District will be a boy from Pakistan.

First Orientation September 8-10

The first orientation for this year’s class of inbound students will be held September 8th to 10^th at Camp Conrad Weiser in Wernersville PA. This will be the first gathering of our visitors. Festivities start Friday night when the District Committee welcomes the new students with informal introductions and a weenie roast. Saturday starts with a more formal introduction and the first orientation session.. Team building exercises take place in the afternoon. Nighttime activities include an international square dance. After Sunday services, a international softball game takes place with players from 16 different countries and the United States.

Never Too Early

School starts in a month and the District will be seeking candidates to be exchange students for the 2007-08 school year. Please contact John Brady for ideas on recruiting students to represent your club. On the reverse side of the coin, the District can always use one or two more clubs to host a student next year. As some clubs can attest to finding host families requires both time and effort to recruit. Contact anyone on the District committee for help.

District 7430 Exchange Students Stand Out in a Crowd

Any guess which student is from District 7430? Ashleigh Cook in

her“red” Rotary Blazer stands out in the airport on her way to Brazil.

Youth Protection Program

This is the first year for the District’s Youth Protection Program. Rotary Clubs sponsoring youth programs such as Youth Exchange, Interact and Camp Neidig will need to have the club members involved in these programs trained and certified. The first training session was held at the District Assembly at Montgomery Country Community College this past spring. The second training session will be held twice at the first orientation, once on Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday morning. Club Youth Exchange Officers, Club counselors, Club volunteers and host families are required to attend. See the website for further details.

Website

Please visit our website for current information. This website is updated daily. Besides the current calendar, check out the latest e-mail from our outbound students as well as pictures from all of our students. Applications for next year’s program can be downloaded from the site also. Current and past students can access the member’s area to get addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. If you don’t have a password please contact us through the website at www.rotary7430yep.org