North Texas host families needed for high school exchange students around the world
LEWISVILLE (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Students from around the world are hoping to spend this upcoming school year in North Texas, but they need host families to take them in.
EF High School Exchange Year is putting out an urgent call for volunteers.
"We have 22 students left who still need a home," said Christine Sanders, the regional coordinator for North Texas with EF High School Exchange Year. "They're still in their home countries, waiting to be told that they were chosen. School is starting, so it's crunch time."
Ruben Terbest, a 16-year-old from The Netherlands, is grateful he got a spot. He moved in with the Warriner family a few days ago.
"I've already started school, which is really exciting," he said. "Texas is one of the personally, in my opinion, one of the most American states there is. So I was like, that's perfect."
Hosts need to provide a bed, three meals a day, and basic transportation for the students, but they come with their own spending money, insurance, and cell phones.
The organization said the most important requirement is treating them like family.
"They're not just strangers that stay with you for 10 months," said Sue Warriner. "They're your daughter and your son. If you have capacity in your heart to welcome these kids, they bless you as much as you bless them."
Warriner has hosted 25 students throughout the years and said she now has family all over the world.
"It really is about creating relationships," Sanders said. "That's the whole purpose of the program."
They hope more North Texas families will step up to continue the organization's decades of cross-cultural exchange.
"If they have a heart for travel, for culture, for family – that's what's most important," said Sanders.
According to the program, Lewisville ISD still has a few spots left for exchange students. Smaller districts in more rural areas may be able to accommodate some as well.
If you're interested in becoming a host family, reach out to Sanders directly at christine.sanders@efexchangeyear.org.