Revitalizing Housatonic's foreign exchange program

FALLS VILLAGE — Students from other countries are a common sight at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, students from abroad continued to come to Region One, stay with local families and attend HVRHS for — usually — a full school year.

But HVRHS hasn’t sent anyone overseas since 2019.

Jennie Bate is trying to do something about that.

The HVRHS library media specialist is also the faculty advisor to the AFS Club.

AFS stands for American Field Services, founded in 1911 to promote intercultural learning. The organization, now known as AFS Intercultural Programs, facilitates student exchange programs.

The local chapter is known as the Falls Village chapter, and includes all six Region One towns.

In an interview Sunday, March 2, Bate said the club has six student members, including a student from Colombia.

The immediate task is to come up with a plan to promote AFS programs. The group has taken the initial steps to establish a social media presence, Bate said.

Jenny Law, a Falls Village chapter board member and former host, said in an interview Saturday, March 1, that the dearth of Region One students going abroad under the aegis of AFS can be partially attributed to the pandemic.

She also wondered if the commitment of a semester or year abroad is daunting for students, especially given the success of the HVRHS Travel Club, which sends groups of students overseas on trips of much shorter duration.

Another problem is the expense of going overseas for a year.

Law said the local AFS chapter has money available for scholarships.

“We’ve got a strong fund.”

AFS needs more host families too. In a letter sent to Region One families last year, Law urged families to consider hosting “an exchange student from another country, in your home, for a semester or a year. It is not necessary that you have a high school aged child of your own at the time of hosting. Many host families have younger children at home, or no children at all.

“The only requirements are that you can provide a safe and loving home, and that you are interested in having a cultural exchange of ideas, values and traditions.”