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ARE
YOU THINKING OF BEING AN EXCHANGE STUDENT ?
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Are you are
adventurous?
Are you a good student?
Do you like to meet new people?
Does the idea of learning another
language and living in a foreign county for a year sound exciting to you? |
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Rotary
Exchange Students
in Thailand |
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If your
answer
to these questions
is YES
!
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Rotary Youth Exchange just might be able to offer you |
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THE
EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!
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Each year thousands of young people from around the world make the journey to another land and live for a year in the homes of host families selected by local Rotary Clubs.
While abroad, they attend school, they share in household duties, and they assume the life of a normal teenager in the country where they live.
And while they are learning, the people around them are learning too, because every Rotary Exchange Student is also a young ambassador, sharing their ideas, sharing their culture, and making friends in a distant part of the world.
If all of this
sounds exciting then
we invite you to apply for a Rotary International Youth Exchange. It just might be the
beginning of a great experience, the EXPERIENCE OF YOUR
LIFETIME!
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HOW
TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL ROTARY CLUB |
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If you are interested in
applying for Rotary Youth Exchange you will need to begin by
contacting your local Rotary Club.
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Students who live
within Rotary
District 5080 (Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington, Southern British Columbia Click
here to see map) can send
us an email and we will let you know who to contact in your area. Make sure you include the name
of your town in the email.
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Students who live
outside of Rotary District 5080 can submit your name directly to Rotary
International by visiting the youth
exchange web page and completing the form at the bottom of the
page. |
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CURRENT FEES |
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All
Fees
shown
in
US
Dollars
The
2008-2009
fee
for Rotary District 5080 Youth Exchange Students is US $4,400US.
The fee is paid in three installments:
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$500US when the full application is submitted by December 1st.
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$1,950 is due on January 1 of the year of departure.
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Final
payment is due at the Outbound Student Orientation in May and will be $1,950.
See
District 5080 Financial Agreement or detailed financial information. Click
here to download Financial Agreement. See Conger Scholarship
for information about a program which may help students in need of financial
assistance.
The fee in District 5080 covers the following items:
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Round trip airfare
from Spokane,
Washington to your destination. |
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Medical insurance
for the duration of your exchange. |
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Visas
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Outbound orientation
session for student and parents |
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Any
required orientation sessions or language schools for students in the host country
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The cost of Rebound Orientation in September for Rebound Exchange Students. |
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Rotary students are
also provided with free room and board in their host country, school tuition
(if required), and a modest monthly allowance of about $50. |
This fee does not include:
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A $500US emergency fund that
you are required to maintain in a bank account in your destination country (some countries require higher emergency funds).
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The cost of a required navy blue blazer
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| Miscellaneous items, personal
day-to-day expenses, clothing, etc. In most cases the easiest way for
parents to provide funds to their children overseas will be via credit cards
or with ATM cards. ATM cards allow funds to be deposited in the USA or
Canada and then withdrawn overseas.
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| Optional
Tours or Travel
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School uniforms (where required)
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Travel to obtain visas. |
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EXCHANGE
STUDENT CALENDAR: IMPORTANT DATES |
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Selected students will not leave for their exchange for almost a full year after they submit their first application.
It is important to plan ahead!
SEPTEMBER
-
OCTOBER
| Applicants submit a Preliminary
Application to their local Rotary club. Click
here to Download Application Form. |
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Clubs review the preliminary
applications and decide which students to interview.
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Interviews are conducted by local
Rotary Clubs.
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Clubs select the students who will be their candidates for exchange.
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| Selected students submit a
Full Application to the Youth Exchange Chairman of their local Rotary Club. *First fee payment due at this time Click Here to see FEES
Click here to Download
Full Application.
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NOVEMBER:
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The District Youth Exchange Committee interviews all candidates
and makes final selections. Successful candidates are notified that they are accepted as Rotary Exchange
students.
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Students should apply for a passport if they do not have one or if their current passport will expire less that 6 months after they return from exchange. |
JANUARY:
FEBRUARY
| Outbound students are notified of the district and country to which they will be sent.
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MAY
JULY
-
AUGUST
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Outbound students depart for their
host countries.
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And then ...one year later...they arrive back home!
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ORIENTATION
FOR OUTBOUND STUDENTS |
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Orientation
for 2008- 2009 outbound students will be held May 3rd & 4th, 2008 at Camp
Lutherhaven, south of Coeur 'd Alene, Idaho. All outbound students and at least one parent are required to attend.
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QUALIFICATIONS
& OTHER CONSIDERATIONS |
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Students selected for exchange must be at least 15 years
old, but not yet 18 on August first of the year they leave on exchange.
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Children of Rotary parents are eligible for exchange but they receive no
special status in the selection process.
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Students selected for exchange should
have an inquiring mind and be actively interested in their own
environment. They should be well-rounded individuals.
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Some Rotary Districts
overseas will not accept students after they have graduated from high
school. Some Rotary clubs in District 5080 may give a preference in their selection process
to students who have not graduated.
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France and Germany
prefer students to have studied their language for a minimum of 2 years prior to
arrival. All other countries require that students make a real effort to learn
the basics of their language before they arrive.
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Some countries are reluctant
to accept vegetarians, and we are not able to send vegetarians to Argentina or
Denmark. Applicants must provide full details of any dietary restrictions in
their applications.
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TRAVEL & VISA ARRANGEMENTS |
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The Youth Exchange
Committee of Rotary District 5080 has selected It's
Your World Travel, in Seattle Washington(Click here for a link to their web site), to handle all travel and
VISA arrangements for our outbound students.
It's
Your World Travel has more than 25 years of experience in providing
travel and related services for Rotary Exchange Students and is currently
providing travel services to almost 50 Rotary districts in North
America.
It's
Your World will inform our outbound students of the various documents that
are needed to obtain the specific visas they require. Different countries
require different documents. After being contacted, students and their
parents assemble the required documentation and send it to It's Your World. It's Your World then makes contact with the appropriate consulates and secures the needed visas.
They
will also acquire a 12 month open return ticket to your destination.
Students will generally travel as a group.
It's Your World Travel
will also have a representative at our Outbound Student Orientation in May to explain the process of
securing Visas and arranging travel to your destination.
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TRAVEL & TOURS DURING THE EXCHANGE
YEAR |
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During
your year on exchange, there may be special tours or travel in your host
district or country that is sponsored by your host district or club. These
tours will vary from one district to another; some have several trips, others
may have none.
Some
of these tours may be optional, and will require payment by students who wish to
participate. Some programs will be paid for by your hosting district or
clubs and you will not need to pay. Again, all of this will vary
from district to district.
You
may also have the opportunity for other travel not officially sponsored by
Rotary (but approved by your host club or counselor), such as
travel with host parents, schools, or other organizations. In most cases
students will need permission from their natural parents to participate in these
trips. It will be best if you bring written permission from your
natural parents with you to your host country so that you can participate when
opportunities present themselves. If you wish, you can Download
District 5080 Travel Permission Form and bring two copies with you, both
with original signatures from your parents.
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PROGRAM
RULES |
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All Rotary Exchange students are expected to abide by rules that
are established by Rotary International, the hosting districts, and their home
district. Failure to abide by Rotary rules may result in a student being
sent back to his or her home country. Certain rules are standard
throughout Rotary; individual districts may also have additional rules.
Click here to
see the Rules of District 5080
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ACADEMIC CREDIT |
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Outbound students from
District 5080 are advised that Rotary cannot and will not guarantee that they
will receive credit at home for any courses taken while overseas. It can
be a difficult procedure to make arrangements in advance to receive secondary
school credit in the USA or Canada for courses received on exchange.
Students
who wish to receive credit for these courses must, in most cases, coordinate
with their local school administration before departure to determine if such
credit might be possible and what steps will be needed to receive the credit.
District 5080 encourages
Rotary exchange students to regard their year abroad as a time to learn or
improve their skills in a new language and experience a new culture and not to
take the same demanding course load as they would at home. This
is the preferred approach.
Students should be aware that
studying in an unfamiliar language, while adjusting to a new culture, and
maintaining their obligations as a Rotary ambassador, is a very difficult
task. Students should study subjects that are of interest but which do not
count as school credits in their home county .
Students who wish to receive scholarships
after their return to the USA or Canada are advised to research individual
scholarship requirements before they leave so their options will remain open
when they return.
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OUR
EXCHANGE PARTNERS
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The list of countries that exchange with District 5080
will change from time to time.
Due to Visa requirements some of the countries listed below may
not be available to citizens of Canada and some countries may not be available
to citizens of the USA
The list of countries that District 5080 exchanges with changes every Year.
Please contact your local Rotary club or one of the District 5080 YE volunteers for a current list.
(Links
below lead to a Yahoo "Country Page" for each country.)
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Denmark
Ecuador
Finland
France
Germany
India
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Peru
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
South Africa
Thailand
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The
following links are to sites around the world that may be of interest in
researching a culture or a language, or for obtaining information about Rotary
Youth Exchange:
Rotary
Exchange Students Alumni - ROTEX Lots of information
for current and past exchange students
Latin
American Network Information Center Thousands of links to websites on every
aspect of Latin America - in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
German
Culture @ About.com News, Links and lots of information.
Russian
Culture @ About.com News, Links and lots of information
Yamada
Language Center University of Oregon language & resource center with
self-study programs available.
Center
for the Advancement of Language Learning Excellent site for foreign
language learning resources and links -- especially related to authentic
materials (such as foreign language newspapers) and less commonly taught
languages -- are collected here for foreign language teachers and
learners. Just click on a language in "Languages A - Z" for a
wealth of information.
Want to add a
link??? Send us an email and
let us know your favorite site.
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