Organizers planning for 2025-26 school year

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

As the school year is in full swing for the local schools in the Lakes Area, many students are benefiting from the cross-cultural learning opportunities provided by the variety of foreign exchange students who are spending their year in the United States.

Sheila Piippo, rural New York Mills, is a Local Coordinator for the Center of International Educational Exchange (CIEE) and is looking to place as many students as she can within the lakes area in anticipation for the 2025-26 school year.

“The sooner we can place them, the more time the family has to be able to communicate back and forth, so they have a relationship somewhat established before they arrive in the United States,” said Piippo. “They arrive in the U.S. one to three weeks before school starts.”

With students nine different countries including Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam, a number of students with many different lived-experiences are looking to find a place to stay during their excursionary year to the United States. 

“They’re looking forward to the experience of living in the United States and they really get immersed into the culture and they can improve their English,” said Piippo. “I think having those relationships built with their host families, they have lifelong friends. I was reading some testimonials and there’s a kid that came to the U.S. and he didn’t have siblings, but his host family did, so he said, ‘I have a brother now!’ So that’s cool.”

Host families can be anyone 25 years old and up, including those who are single, traditional and blended families, empty nesters, retirees, etc. The simple requirements to host a foreign exchange student is to have a dedicated bedroom, which can be shared with one host sibling within four years of age, a quiet space to study, three meals a day and transportation.

“It’s prohibited for the students to do any type of driving,” said Piippo. “That even includes jet skis, golf carts, snow mobiles, four-wheelers, everything. It’s because they do come with their own insurance. They come with their own spending money, they pay for their own phone bill, if they have school lunches, they would pay for those themselves too.”

Piippo also said that it’s important to really make the exchange student a member of the family, whether it’s participating in the household chores, attending family events, or enjoying a movie night together, every part of the immersion adds to the student’s overall experience living an American life.

“When the students are signing up, they put preferences as to if they want to live on the West Coast, or if they’re open,” she said. “A lot of them are open, and some of them want to be in a school with over 900 students so they can take AP classes, so they’re furthering their development that way.”

If someone is interested in hosting a student, but would like to know more about the program or the students, CIEE is able to offer redacted copies of students information so that they can get to know what they are taking on and who they might have something in common with.

“When I was placing a Belgian student in New York Mills, I was able to give a redacted copy of her application to the family,” said Piippo. “It was able to share with them why she wants to come and what she likes to do. There’s a lot of support and information ahead of time so you know what you’re getting into.”

The Center of International Education Exchange is a company that’s been around for 77 years, so the organization has a long history of foreign exchange work and supporting both students and families. They also screen students for they’re English proficiency level so that they are able to successfully complete curriculum in the United States.

As a local coordinator, Piippo needs to live within 100 miles of the student and be able to check in with them and their host family to make sure they are supported and have answers to any questions they might have. She said that CIEE also has a 24 hour emergency phone number in case they need immediate assistance. She said that though she is new to the role, she looks forward to her time working with the host families and exchange students in the west central region of Minnesota.

“Throughout the country, they have these local coordinators, that’s my role so I support the student and the family every month to make sure things are going alright,” she said. “I got involved in this because when I was in college, I was a foreign exchange student in Spain and I loved that experience. I just think this work is so important.”