Students in Wilsonville Rotary Club’s International Youth Exchange Program. (l to r) Lauren Ellett, Noah Heidelberger, Ellie Counts, Kate Frechette
The re-instituted Wilsonville Rotary Youth Exchange Program is just now entering its fifth year. We recently recruited Wilsonville High School freshman students for studying abroad in their junior year. There were eight applicants, four each for both the long term exchange program (LTEP) and the short term exchange program (STEP). These applicants and their families will be interviewed in late spring/early summer to determine who will be nominated to the local Rotary District for participation in the program.
This summer four newly minted WHS juniors will be involved in the STEP; hosting their host brother/sisters here in Wilsonville/West Linn for four-five weeks and then traveling to Europe for a four-five week family-to-family exchange. Noah Heidelberger will be with his host brother, Hugo Pasquier from Annecy, France; Kate Frechette will be with her host sister, Louise Cottier from Saint-Andre-Le-Gas, Isere, France; Lauren Ellett will be with her host sister, Sofia Borsa from Milan, Italy; and Ellie Counts will be with her host sister, Danielle Dovalova from Roznava, Slovakia. In an exciting turn of events, all four inbound European STEP students will be in Wilsonville at the same time during a period in late June-early July. BBQ and pool parties for all eight exchange students are planned.
In mid-late summer Haley Budroe will be departing Wilsonville to spend the school year abroad in South Korea. She will certainly be fluent in the Korean language when she returns in the summer of 2020.
At the same time the Wilsonville Rotary Club will be hosting an inbound student from South Korea. Yebin Ji will be arriving mid August and spending the year with three different host families (about 3 months each). Born on 12 July 2002, Yebin has been accepted into Wilsonville High School and will be taking senior classes.
And finally, Ari Lauthner has been a LTEP student in Argentina since last August studying at the 11th grade level. He will be returning mid July fully fluent in Spanish (Argentine Spanish, that is) to resume his studies as a senior at WHS. He has recounted many adventures over his school year in Argentina, and we are anxious to hear all about it at a presentation early in the fall.
Our initial cadre of LTEP/STEP students is just now finishing their freshman year in college. The Rotary Club of Wilsonville continues to be excited to be involved in supporting the youth exchange program and providing the opportunity for young WHS students to travel and live abroad. This is a life changing experience for them as well as allowing them to create life-long relationships with their foreign contemporaries.
Submitted by Jake McMichael, Wilsonville Rotary Youth Exchange Officer