06/06/2006: "Host Family Volunteers Needed"

Spring Street International School (SSIS) is delighted to announce that they will be hosting an AFS student for the year 2006-07, and are looking for one or two families in the local community who would like to volunteer for the memorable and exciting experience of hosting our incoming student. His name is Xi Wen, and he is from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. He will be sixteen years old next week and would therefore most likely be placed in a tenth grade class, although he may take classes with students in other grade levels as well. In his Chinese school, he is in the graduating class of 2008.

Xi Wen (Wen is his family name) enjoys basketball, table tennis, and brush-writing (Chinese calligraphy). He has studied English for six years in school in China. He hopes to continue on in college after he graduates and is interested in a medical career. He has been on a brief cultural exchange trip to South Korea; that was his first experience traveling abroad.

SSIS would welcome volunteers for either one semester or for the whole academic year. AFS needs to complete arrangements for the host family as soon as possible in order to move forward with Xi Wen's visa process, so they would appreciate hearing very soon from any interested family. Contact Catherine Barnhart, International Student Advisor, Spring Street International School, at (360) 378-6393; or email at: cpbarnhart@rockisland.com . (You may also contact Roger Frost, Head of School, at the same address and school telephone or by email at Roger_Frost@springstreet.org.)

Families interested in hosting should contact Catherine Barnhart or Roger Frost at Spring Street International School as soon as possible. The school will then put you in touch with the AFS hosting coordinator, who will conduct interviews and process paperwork. Although AFS host families do not receive compensation for students' living costs, AFS students will provide their own spending money and are covered by the AFS Participant Medical Plan. Additionally, Spring Street International School will waive tuition for Xi Wen, and the AFS hosting coordinator will cover his school activity fees. Host families are eligible for a modest tax deduction for every month of hosting.