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This mid-August, 100 area families are preparing to welcome a new addition to their households. Instead of a bouncing baby, these families will host energetic teenage exchange students. These soon-to-be sons and daughters will arrive from countries around the world to live with their “new” American host families and attend local high schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

The local host families and exchange students are participating in the SHARE! High School Exchange Program, a non-profit educational foundation that fosters intercultural exchange by bringing people of different cultures together to live as a family and learn about each other firsthand.

“There are still about 110 students from around the world awaiting placement with a host family,” stated Yvette Coffman, the SHARE! Director. “If anyone has thought about hosting, now is an excellent time to start. We have a group of great students, and hope to match all students with host families as soon as possible, so they have time to communicate before the students arrive to begin school,” Coffman added.

The exchange students, all between the ages of 15 and 18, will live with host families and attend local high schools. They are carefully selected, speak English, and have their own health insurance and spending money. Host families provide a bed, meals, friendship, understanding, and a genuine desire to share the American way of life. All types of families are eligible to host: those with small children or teens, “empty nest” families, those with no children, retired couples, and single-parent families.

The SHARE! High School Exchange Program has been promoting intercultural exchange for 50 years. Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student for the upcoming school year can call Coffman at 1-800-414-3738 or visit sharesouthwest.org/contact.