DISTRICT 6630 YOUTH EXCHANGE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
photos provided by Susan Colville-Hall
Youth Exchange in the Covid Era presented the District with unprecedented challenges from the middle of March to the present. The exchange year started very successfully. We had ten Inbounders from Belgium, France, Germany, Brazil (3), Finland, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand. They were a wonderful group of young men and women, and good ambassadors for their countries. Many, many thanks to the clubs, volunteers, and host families who stepped up to host these high school students: Akron (2 students), Medina Sunrise, Aurora, Hudson, Lakewood RR, Lakewood RR Sunrise, Westlake, Hillcrest, and Kent. It is my sincere hope each club found this experience rewarding and well worth the effort. The Youth Exchange is one of the few international projects in Rotary where clubs have direct contact with outstanding young people from all over the world.We sent out four students in 2019-20 for a year abroad for high school study and cultural exchange. They were Paige Ray (Cuyahoga Falls), Jacob Weitman (Cuyahoga Falls), Fiona Fisher (Geauga West), and Austin Brewster (Kent). Thanks to the clubs who sponsored these students. Without your sponsorship, they would never have had the opportunity of a lifetime.
We were able to have our Orientation for the Inbounders in August at the Akron Rotary Camp, canoe outing on the Cuyahoga River (Mantua) in September, Cleveland Indians game (Stew Buchanan) in September, the annual tour of Cleveland sights (Cleveland Club) in October, Fall Fun Day (Lakewood Interact) in October, Interaction (Aurora) in November, Training at the Akron Rotary Camp (District) in November, Outbound Interviews (District) at the Akron Rotary Camp in December, tobogganing at the Chalet-Cleveland Metro Parks (District) in January, Outbound Training (District) at the Akron Rotary Camp in February, and the Cleveland Cavaliers game (Stew Buchanan) in early March.
Then Covid hit. Inbounders progressively went home and now only the three Brazilians are still with us, but soon to leave the exchange program. From March to present we have been meeting as a group by “Zoom” to try and replace some of the features of the exchange and keep spirits high. Unfortunately, both the eastern and western trips, two of the great highlights of Rotary exchange in the U.S.A., were canceled because of the pandemic, so keeping spirits high was a priority. Messages from those going home, nevertheless, said the year here in the U.S.A. was still a great experience.
Our Outbounders also have arrived home in the U.S.A. Three came home early and one, Paige Ray, stayed in Brazil to the end and only recently arrived home.
The good news is that opportunities will not cease for students seeking a Rotary Youth Exchange even though current times have presented us with unprecedented difficulties. OE (our multidistrict RYE organization, which is composed of several Rotary districts from Ohio to Florida) is working hard to put in place a half year exchange starting in January 2021. Currently, we have two interested students for this opportunity. OE is optimistic that we can return to a normal exchange for 2021-2022. At this point we have two students who are considering this full year opportunity.
The Short-Term Exchange Program (STEP), an eight-week reciprocal, family to family, exchange program, usually in the summer, has become a “Zoom” exchange for this summer because of the pandemic. Next summer we are hopeful that the usual exchange will be back.
With the next year having a hiatus from much of the usual exchange program, the District Youth Exchange Committee will center its efforts on improving the program. We will meet regularly to entertain any idea to better the effort during these difficult times. One of our goals is to utilize our past Outbounders to help us connect with future Outbounders and Inbounders to explain what needs to be done to adapt to the problems of an exchange.I cannot thank enough members of the District Youth Exchange Committee for their energy and loyalty. Pat Kelley (Hudson Clock Tower) is our Outbound Chairman and brings to the table over 40 years’ experience in Rotary Youth Exchange at every level, from local leader to Chairman of our multidistrict. Shelia Hedrick (Cuyahoga Falls), our Inbound Chairman, not only performs that function, but handles, as well, all the administrative work of the program. Only those who work in the system can appreciate the amount of work this requires. Susan Colville Hall (Akron) is our Trainer. She has a teaching background, which includes teaching at Akron University in the very subject which forms the heart of exchange work—cultural diversity. Brian Chima (Akron) works with Susan to enable the students to adapt to and absorb American culture while helping them share their various cultures, having fun at the same time. David Vogelgesang (Medina Sunrise) has come aboard this year to help lead the students. David has unique experience to do so since he himself was a Rotary Exchange student to Chile, as was his son. His daughter recently completed a year in Mexico as a Rotary Exchange student. District 6630 is indeed fortunate, as am I, to have this kind of talent and experience working in all phases of the exchange program.
No one ever led me to believe Rotary Youth Exchange was an easy job. But, like most of you, I had no idea of its complexity, and no idea that the complexity grows each year. However, I have discovered that working with outstanding young men and women from all over the world has rewards greater than I ever envisioned when I started this job. Discover this for yourself. In the coming year, we hope to build youth exchange leadership at the club level to give many more students the chance to grasp this extraordinary opportunity.
Bob Heydorn, District 6630 RYE General Chair