By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Back in 2019, Beth Williams and her husband Chris took a chance on making a difference in their lives and the lives of young people.
Williams saw a post on social media that described an exchange student in Indiana whose host family had to back out of their host commitment, and a family was needed to step up an qualify to be a host family for this boy, so he wouldn’t have to cut his exchange program short.
“We got him on January 2, 2020 and we were able to experience COVID with him!” Williams said, with a laugh. “They closed Ecuador’s borders so he didn’t leave to go home until late June instead of early June.”
She said there was a regional exchange student event in February before everything closed down, and she said it was heartwarming to see all the kids, and how many knew each other.
International Student Exchange has provided United States State Department designated high school exchange programs for exchange students around the world since 1982. They sponsor the J-2 secondary school Visa.
The J-2 visa program was introduced after the world wars with the mission in mind that conflicts should never begin in the first place. Through this program they want to help high school students become more rounded citizens of the world, and to foster friendships all around the world.
ISE provides a twelve-month, ten-month, first-semester, or second-semester high school exchange program for foreign students.
The students are carefully screened for English language proficiency, grades and overall suitability for the program. Then they are placed with a public school, or in some cases, a private high school.
While in the program, the student lives with a volunteer host family as they attend high school. The student is also assigned a personal ISE representative who provides assistance and supervision.
“A lot of the kids say they expected to be assigned to places like New York, or Florida, or California, because those are the places everybody knows about,” Williams said. “So when they were assigned to Kentucky they weren’t sure where it was or what there was to do in Kentucky. After their stay here, almost all the kids say they are very happy they were assigned here, because they feel like they got a true American experience.”
Beth and Chris Williams have personally hosted five students, 3 boys and 2 girls, but altogether they have assisted in placing 19 students in the area with host families.
The Williams have a grown son who was away at college when they first started, but has virtually gone through the experience with his parents.
“One of the reasons I got involved was that we were about to be empty nesters, and I wasn’t ready for that,” Williams said. “I recently told my son, they keep me young. And he said, As they should, Mom.”
The role of the host family is to provide the most normal home life that they can for the student. There can be two students in the home, and they can share a bedroom as long as they are the same sex and they don’t speak the same language. If two students speak the same language the inclination is to speak their home language instead of practicing English and interacting with the family.
The host family is not responsible for any money for the student. The student is responsible for school fees. The host family will provide three meals a day and a bed and a roof over their head.
Williams said she had one student, Henrik, who really wanted to get involved with football, and at Bellevue high school, he was able to do that.
“We went to all his games,” she said. “Another student was involved with volleyball, and we started to love volleyball. We like our sports and we go to Bengals and Reds’ games, and FC games.”
Exchange students who come to this area go to Conner, Cooper, Simon Kenton, Scott, Dixie, Bellevue, Dayton and Newport. Williams said she has placed students with families in Cincinnati also. The program is national, and is represented in most states.
“Our students have to participate in a community service project while here,” Williams explained. “Every spring and fall I organize a day when we make sandwiches for Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati. The program is called Project Help. Also, host families are expected to treat the students like family and not like guests. They should have chores, rules, and curfews, just like family members.”
Anyone who would like to share their life with an exchange student can go to ISEUSA.org to see what the organization is all about. Information is on the website as to how to sign up, or Beth Williams has offered to talk to anyone about how wonderful this experience can be for the right people. Her number is 859-803-2114.