Student Exchange Program Topic of Rotary Club Program
by Bob Augustin Jr.
Rotarian Jack Grinnell, Area Representative of Pacific Intercultural Exchange, was the guest speaker at the June 5, 2009 meeting of the Lawrenceburg Rotary Club. Pacific Intercultural Exchange-USA (P.I.E.- USA), incorporated in 1975 in San Diego, California, is a not-for-profit international student exchange organization.
Grinnell stated that P.I.E.-USA brings students into the United States for six and ten month academic homestays, and sends American students overseas for similar time periods. Students live as family members, participate in family activities, share successes and problems with the host family, and perform household tasks required of family members. All students are covered with medical and accident insurance by P.I.E.-USA, and the organization assumes full responsibility for each student on program. To cover expenses outside of the home, students bring their own personal spending money.
PIE sponsors three types of foreign student exhanges:
1) Traditional students from countries that are allies of the United States;
2) Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) for students from countries that were part of the formerU.S.S.R.; and
3) Youth Exchange & Studey (YES) for students from Muslim countries.
LCHS Exchange Student Junia Figueiredo also addressed the club and related her impressions on Tennessee, Lawrence County education systems, and the education system in her home country of Brazil.
For more information about PIE, go to its web site at http://www.pieusa . If you are interested in hosting a foreign exchange student in your home, contact PIE Area Representative Jack Grinnell at 931-629-6793.
Pictured above are L to R: Polly Marsh, Rotary President, Junia Figureiredo, LCHS foreign exchange student from Brazil, and Rotarian Jack Grinnell.
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