Cholet Exchange - October 2022
October 13 -27
Mr. Robert Hall
Fairview High School
7460 McCray Rd.
Fairview, PA 16415
Phone (814) 474-2600 ext. 3124
e-mail: hallr@fairviewschools.org
October 2022 Cholet Exchange Home Page
DUTIES/EXPECTATIONS OF HOST FAMILIES
1. Pick up your students at Fairview High School on the day of their arrival. Their flight is scheduled to land in Cleveland on Thursday, October 13 at 9:35 pm. We hope to have them arrive at FHS north parking lot about two hours later. Normally we have a welcome reception when they arrive. But at this late hour, we will not. They will be in class the next day at the same time as the Fairview students.
2. Make them feel at home. Remember, they have families of their own very far away. They will probably miss them when they get tired or lonely.
3. Give them a place to sleep (preferably their own room) and somewhere to put their belongings.
4. You will be aware of the planned field trips. Please let your students know what they will be doing, what the weather will be like and how they should dress. Also, offer to pack a lunch for them for these excursions.
5. The students need to become part of your family during the time they are staying with you. If the host student has an activity after school, (for example, sports practice or a job) see if the French student can come along (perhaps once or twice, not necessarily every time). If not, please make arrangements for them to be occupied. For example, they could do something with the rest of your family, or get together with some of the other students. Of course, there will also be times where you and they need to relax and plan nothing.
6. It is important that you treat the students the way you would want to be treated if you were visiting them in France. Make an effort to get to know them. Ask about their families, their schools, their favorite pastimes. Learn about their way of life. Share the same information about yourselves.
7. The students must be able to reach their French chaperones by telephone. They may not be sure how to use our telephones (i.e. when to use area codes, etc.), so make sure you show them, if necessary. [This note is how it has appeared for over 20 years. With cell phones, it is much easier for the students to contact their chaperones.]
They will probably want to call home when they arrive. They may have credit cards numbers or the numbers to call home collect (or their own cell phone may be sufficient), but they may be shy about asking to use the phone. If they are fine using their own cell phones, you're all set.
8. They may also be shy about asking you to do their laundry. Please insist that they allow you to do this for them. [But, if they're like me, they may insist on doing their own laundry - you make the call!]
9. The students will get to school the same way you do. If you ride the bus, they ride with you. If you drive to school, make sure you take them as well.
10. You will provide all meals for your guest. For school, you can pack a lunch or give them lunch money. (Believe it or not, there are only four days that they will spend entirely in school!) As mentioned above, you will need to pack a lunch for the various excursions.
11. On Tuesday, October 25 we will have a farewell potluck dinner in the FHS cafeteria. Since this will be a tureen style dinner. I'd like to divide the food types among the host families alphabetically. (NOTE: In 2015 the host families had a new idea – a “Thanksgiving Meal”. We won’t rule that out for 2019.) Of course, if you have a dish you really enjoy making, and it doesn't fit your alphabetical assignment, go for it! I won't be using a checklist. We just want to avoid 26 desserts and no main course.
A-L: Please bring a main dish and salad-type dish.
M-Z: Please bring a main dish and dessert-type dish.
12. Get them to the FHS parking lot in time for their 8:15 departure. We will need time to load luggage and say final goodbyes. In the past the Cholet group spent the last day in New York City before continuing on to France. That will not be the case this year.
13. Enjoy this experience and make a lifelong friendship and an international connection. Hopefully you'll keep in touch with your correspondent for many years to come. You may have the chance to be reunited when we go back to Cholet in April, 2023!
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