Academic Year in America is still looking for host families for students arriving in August. Join in on the excitement and take the plunge! Visit the AYA Website and register to become a host family to an international teen.
Author Archives: regeniaspoerndle
Virtual Hosting
Creativity, patience and imagination were needed to make this all work, but these young leaders were up for the challenge and continue to do so.
“It’s a world of laughter, a world of love…”
“…the very real blessings that sustains me are the relationships we share with our friends and family we met by chance. These are the relationships gathered from cultural exchange begun because we welcomed an international teen into our home and heart”
Happy Birthday David!!!
Happy 18th Birthday to our number 1 German Son!
California Here We Come!
When COIV-19 met me head on in the middle of March, I was overwhelmed with grief and shock. I found encouragement first from the young people in my life
Welcome to the Adventure of a Lifetime
My family and I began our student exchange journey in 2006 when I randomly responded to a postcard I got in the mail from an exchange organization looking for host families. We hosted a wonderful young man, Guillaume, for 3 weeks that summer and our lives were never the same. In May of 2012, IContinue reading “Welcome to the Adventure of a Lifetime”
Student Exchange and COVID-19
We can not guarantee tomorrow, but we can celebrate today. Celebrating life is one of the reasons my family got involved with student exchange
First Semester…. check!
The Fall semester of school was a whirlwind at our house. With two biological high school teens (A Senior cheerleader and a Freshman marching band drummer) plus a foreign exchange student teen, our calendar was full! It wasn’t until planning out this post and creating our latest video for Youtube that I realized my feelingContinue reading “First Semester…. check!”
Welcome to the USA
For the past several years AYA has asked me to help chaperone one of their student orientations during the month of August. Held in NYC, this is always an exciting, fun-filled four days as we greet students from all over the world, help them adapt to the fast-paced American lifestyle, site see in NYC, andContinue reading “Welcome to the USA”
It’s not goodbye…
Proms, final exams, and graduations have come and gone. Lockers have been closed for the last time and the once slightly unsure new international student has transformed into a confident bilingual “American” teenager. It’s June and that means another Academic Year in America has come to an end. As a Local Coordinator, I am alwaysContinue reading “It’s not goodbye…”