If you are a passionate and gregarious individual interested in learning about new cultures and looking to supplement your income within your community, explore our contracted Local Coordinator (LC) position with Academic Year in America (AYA)!
As a Local Coordinator with AYA, you will develop a volunteer host family cluster and foster relationships with area high schools, facilitate host family and student relationships and ensure that they adhere to program regulations. You will also serve as a mentor to international students, organize intercultural experiences in your community to help students integrate and actively promote AYA in your community.
As a Local Coordinator with AYA, you will identify, screen, interview and select safe and appropriate volunteer host families for AYA students; establish strong working relationships with high school administrators to facilitate student enrollment; and conduct orientation sessions for host families and students. The average number of students in a new community is four to eight; as you build referral networks among eligible families, your community may grow to include 10 to 15 students.
Additional responsibilities of the Local Coordinator include:
As a Local Coordinator with AYA, you must be able to work independently and effectively from home and you must truly enjoy working with teenagers. You will have exceptional networking, organizational and problem solving skills. You should be energetic, open-minded and passionate about cultural exchange and international education. You must have strong communication skills and complete all paperwork on time.
Additional requirements for the Local Coordinator include:
Local Coordinators support host families and students participating in Academic Year in America exchange student programs. These wonderful people help high school exchange opportunities become successful, enriching experiences for the students, families and communities involved. The Local Coordinator in each community is a vital resource to the success of a foreign exchange program.
AYA is committed to the value and benefit of high school exchange for foreign students to learn about life in America and share their unique backgrounds and culture with folks in the U.S. In this aim, AYA provides our Local Coordinators with extensive training, resources and ongoing support to educate, guide and assist international exchange students and American host families as they interact with each other and their communities.
Bringing the AYA exchange students into our school system has helped our students to fulfill our Mission Statement, which is: To empower our students to succeed in the 21st century. This program helps the students to see the world through the eyes of someone from another culture. Because of this program, our world is becoming more closely connected in many great ways …
—Andrew Wielgus, Principal, River Forest High School, Hobart, INSchedule a convenient time to learn more about this amazing experience.
