Hosts for foreign teenagers sought

YOUNGSTOWN — The Pacific Intercultural Exchange is looking for families in the Mahoning County area to serve as hosts for students coming from other countries.

Foreign high school students are scheduled to arrive in December and January for spring academic semester and yearlong home-stay programs, and the sponsoring

organization needs more local host families.

The students are between 15 and 18, speak English and come with their own spending money as well as accident and health insurance.

PIE currently has programs to match almost every family's needs, ranging in length from a semester to a full academic year, where the students attend local high schools.

Students are matched with host families by finding common interests and lifestyles through an informal in-home meeting by PIE representatives. Prospective host families are able to review student applications and select the student they wish to host.

Family, in this case, can be a single parent, a childless couple, a retired couple or a large family.

Families who host for PIE are also eligible to claim a $50-per-month charitable contribution deduction on their itemized tax returns for each month they host a sponsored student.

Students’ countries

For the upcoming programs, the organization has students from Germany, the former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, Australia, Yugoslavia, China and many other countries.

PIE is also participating in two special government-funded programs to bring scholarship students from the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union as well as predominantly Islamic countries such as Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar to the United States.

PIE is a nonprofit educational organization that has sponsored more than 25,000 students from 45 countries since its founding in 1975.

Families interested in learning more about student exchange or arranging for a meeting with a community representative may call toll-free at (866) 546-1402. The agency also has travel/study program opportunities available for American high school students as well as possibilities for community volunteers to assist and work with area host families, students and schools.