The program matches student and host family interests and lifestyles.

The program matches student and host family interests and lifestyles.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Foreign high school students are scheduled to arrive soon for academic semester home-stay programs, and the sponsoring organization needs a few more local host families.

This is the final push for the chance of these young ambassadors to fulfill their life-long dreams, said John Doty, president of Pacific Intercultural Exchange.

The students are all between the ages of 15 and 18 years, speak English, have their own spending money, carry accident and health insurance and are anxious to share their cultural experiences with their new American families. P.I.E. currently has programs to match almost every family’s needs, ranging in length from one semester to a full academic year, where the students attend local public and private high schools.

Area representatives of the agency match students with host families by finding common interests and lifestyles through an informal in-home meeting. Prospective host families are able to review student applications and select the match.

Families who serve as hosts are also eligible to claim a monthly charitable contribution deduction on their itemized tax returns for each month they host a sponsored student.

For the upcoming programs, P.I.E. has students from Germany, the Former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, Australia, China and many other countries. The agency 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.

P.I.E. is a non-profit educational organization that has sponsored more than 25,000 students from 45 countries since its founding in 1975. Interested families should contact the program immediately, as it will allow the proper time for the students and hosts to get to know one another before they actually meet for the first time.

Mahoning Valley area families interested in learning more about student exchange or arranging for a meeting with a community representative can call toll-free at 1(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.