Youth Education Services Canada, better known as YES Canada, is looking for more Lloydminster families to host an international exchange student during the upcoming school year.
YES has a partnership with the Lloydminster Public School Division and is looking for up to 10 homestay families like the Siebens.
The Lloydminster family is hosting a German teen this fall after hosting a student from France for three months earlier this year.
Chantel Sieben, who is a mom and healthcare aide worker, thinks the program is great for the students and her extended family.
“It lets them experience our culture in Canada and we get a little bit of taste of their country, where they come from and how they do things,” she said.
“We have a 13 year-old daughter and my father in-law lives with us. We all enjoy it and just enjoy having them.”
Chantel says her daughter has already borrowed some books from the library on how to speak German.
“My husband took German in university for a year and my father in-law used to speak German, so maybe some of it will come back to us,” she said.
The German exchange student is 15 years-old and will attend Grade 10 at the Lloydminster Comprehensive High School starting on Sept. 3.
“We have him registered for the bus before he even gets here. We’ll meet up with the teacher to get him assigned to classes,” said Sieben.
A total of three students from Germany and Australia will start the school year at the Comp with more students expected from Australia, New Zealand and France.
“In the past, we’ve had students from all over Europe,” said Graham Vogt, national homestay recruitment manager with Yes Canada based in Bracebridge ON.
YES operates in over 20 countries worldwide with programs ranging from two week language and culture trips to year-long high school exchange and immersion experiences.
Vogt says when students sign up for the program they are just choosing to come to Canada with some ending up in Lloydminster knowing YES places students in smaller cities and towns and rural areas.
“Based on their interests in their profile, we identify the best places in the country to go,” explained Vogt.
“We have partnerships with different school divisions around the country. We also have a network of host families, so we tend to know a good portion of the families who are going to be hosting students.”
Vogt think a great host family is someone who’s going to really welcome a new culture and a new perspective to their home.
“I think the ones who love it have an opportunity to learn about a different culture to build their perspective of the world.”
He says the essence of what a host family offers is essentially a family that include them in the general routines and expectations of the family and provides them with three great meals a day.
Vogt says the Sieben family is a perfect example of a homestay host.
“They hosted last year and they’e going to be hosting for us again in September, so they’ve had a really rich experience with welcoming a student into their home,” he said.
Chantel wants other potential host families to know they get pretty close to the students that come.
“It’s just rewarding seeing their excitement on their face when they see something new or do something new they don’t have at home,” she said.
The Siebens plan to take their German student to their cabin at Loon Lake and plan to take him downhill skiing which one of the interests on his profile they receive in advance.
“My daughter’s actually getting into skiing too. We’ll take him to Mount Joy or Kinosoo (Cold Lake),” said Chantel.
Vogt says they have some host families even end up going to the wedding of the students that they hosted.
“These stories are really common,” he said.
Vogt says potential host families are closely vetted and interviewed at their home by a coordinator who conducts a safety inspection as well.
“Anytime teens are involved it’s a careful process,” he said.
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