Exchange students visiting from Spain, Norway

This school year, Hot Springs County High is home to three international students. Aurora Sanfelici from northern Italy is visiting through the Rotary Youth Exchange program, and two additional students are visiting through Education First (EF).

Eric Kay explained he was contacted by EF, the world's largest firm that works with exchange students. He noted they also do foreign language trips. He received an email last spring regarding a search for International Exchange Coordinators (IECs), and "it sounded like something my wife and I would like to do."

The couple went through the IEC training and learned the ropes, but decided to keep things simple the first year by hosting one student and placing one. They are hosting Jorge Aguirre from Madrid, and placed Liza Holien from Oslo, who is staying with Vern and Rachel Miller.

Kay noted he doesn't have any say in who he places, as that is completely up to the host family. As an IEC, he has complete access to the EF website, known as The Hub, and the vetting process for students is very in-depth.

He further explained in the process they decided since their youngest son is a senior they wanted to have another boy in the house. Using The Hub, they marked they wanted a male student which cut the list in half. They next decided on country of origin, and since their son Tyler had just returned from the Dominican Republic and was practicing his Spanish they chose Spain; that cut the list to about 30 students.

Other sorting options through The Hub include English proficiency and pet allergies, and using the system the Kays selected Aguirre, who will attend at Hot Springs County High School for the 2019-20 school year.

Aguirre arrived in the country on Aug. 17, though Holien arrived a week prior.

As for placing, Kay explained as a coordinator he finds host families, meets with them and does home visits. "There's some pretty strict standards EF has for the size of the room, room placement, bathroom egress, cleanliness, and I have to meet with the potential host family. I walk them through the application process, background checks, getting them the qualifications to get them at the host family status. Then I sit down with them and help them pick a kid."

Kay approached the Millers largely due to similar family dynamics. Both the Kays' and the Millers' oldest children are off to college and their youngest are still in high school. Kay also knew they would have the room and "it doesn't hurt to ask."

The experience of hosting an exchange student has been fairly easy, Kay said. "Obviously, Aimee and I are very used to having teenagers and teaching them, so we're very familiar with the age group. And he's very relaxed, and he's playing football. He likes his sports."

As for changes in schooling, Aguirre said his school in Madrid is much larger with more students. A big difference he noted was that here the students change classrooms, where in Madrid it's the teachers who move from room to room. Also, sports are not a part of the regular school curriculum and kept separate. Speaking of sports, he added that he's really enjoying playing football.

His school in Madrid doesn't have just six classes in a day either. "We have 10 subjects, and some subjects you can do twice a week and others five days."

One of the big differences he's noticed are the meal times. "The meals are so different, the time of the meals." He further explained lunch in Madrid is at 3 p.m. and dinner is at 10 p.m. "so we don't have lunch here," indicating at school. "We have lunch at home."

Kay said if people are interested in hosting a student, they could contact him at 864-2731.