Exchange program seeks host families

May 5, 2015

Debbie Carter
907-474-5406
5/5/2015

The Alaska 4-H Global Citizenship and Exchange Program is seeking host families for Japanese students participating in a four-week summer exchange program.

Japanese youth are paired with a host sibling of the same age. These were 2013 exchange participants in Fairbanks..

Thirty-five Japanese students, ages 12 to 18, will be in Alaska from July 25 to Aug. 23. Families with host siblings in the same age range are preferred. Hosts are also needed for a few adult chaperones.

Host families must live on the Alaska road system or in Juneau. Exchange coordinator Jason Floyd said hosts don’t need to speak Japanese — they just need to be willing to share their lives and friendship with a young person from another country. The visiting students are eager to experience daily life in Alaska and to do whatever the family normally does, he said.

The goal of the program is to prepare Alaska youths to live and work in the global economy while making new friends.

The exchange program has existed in Alaska for more than 30 years. For more information or to host a youth, go to www.alaska4h.org/host.html or contact Jason Floyd at jfloyd1@alaska.edu or 907-262-5824. 4-H is a national youth leadership development program administered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

ON THE WEB: www.alaska4h.org/host.html

DC/5-5-15/277-15