ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE UPDATE
Youth Exchange is alive and well in our district! Thank you to the clubs who support our mission of building peace one student at a time. This year we’ve made some changes to the long term program and are offering multi-district gatherings with the students as our class size is down to 6 inbound students.We would love to see this group grow again in the future. Let Linda Kennedy know if you’d like to have a speaker at your club about Youth Exchange and how it benefits everyone involved. Linda’s email is YEPChair7430@gmail.com.
February – We took a trip to NYC to see MJ the Musical and attended the Friday night dinner of MAPETS for the parade of flags.
March – We postponed our trip to DC with the anticipation of the government shut down. We took the students to the Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster to show them the Amish heritage and followed that up with a lunch at Shady Maple, a shopping trip to King of Prussia and then off to Linda’s home for a sleepover. The following day we went to Elmwood Park Zoo for a few hours before sending the students back to their host families. We pack in a lot of activities, but we want them have a variety of activities and make the most of their time together.
April – you will find the students at the District Conference in Hershey. Please talk with them about their experiences and share some of your favorite spots they should visit before they head to their home countries in June. We will have a booth at the trade show to highlight our program and an opportunity to donate a few dollars to the cause.
Please start searching for the 2026-27 students now. We will be having interviews in Nov/Dec 2025. If your club is hosting a student starting this August, please help your youth exchange officer find host families. The hardest part of the role is identifying families to open their hearts and homes to these students.
We have a few students interested in short-term exchange this summer. We will have more details in the next newsletter. If long term exchange isn’t an option, please consider the short term exchange in either 2025 or 2026. Contact Rose Galeano-Phillips at RotaryRose7430@gamil.com
