On our morning show today from WRC, we're going to be talking about an upcoming need for host families.
And we're going to be talking about the fact that some more great youth from the world will be coming to the area.
Joining us today, Marty Richards in a different capacity, representing Forte International.
And you're familiar with Kathy Frye working for Youth for Understanding.
We've had her in the studio quite a lot through the years.
Kathy, you had a great group of students last year at Richland Center High School.
Yes, we did.
We ended up with eight during the whole year at Richland Center.
I worked with 11 kids overall.
I had kids in Prairie de Chine.
I had one at Manona Grove.
I had one at Madison East, West, and one in West Salem.
So I had kids all over the place, but we had eight here at Richland Center overall.
as a coordinator then with those students that far out how do you how do you work on that just
well coordinators um can place kids anywhere within about a hundred and a quarter of the state department 120 mile radius um
YFU has a little bit stricter radius, they only go 100 miles.
So I can work with anybody in that 100 mile radius.
I check in with them once a month, also with the families at least once a month.
And twice during the year, we're required to see them in person per state department rules.
It's a little bit difficult.
to do the January one in person because that's when they want it done is in January.
So this year I was lucky enough to have a gathering at in the Dells and I just kind of talked to my kids during that time.
So I was able to get that done that way.
I would
honestly prefer to work within a 50 mile radius.
And I would love to find some other schools to work with right in our own area.
I've talked with Kickapoo, Riverdale, River Valley, Moskabel, Hillsborough, you know, just kind of in the surrounding area, Reedsburg, hoping to be able to find some host families in those schools as well.
But Richland Center has always had a really great program and last year, like I said, we had eight overall.
Some of the same families that host year after year.
Yes, some of the same ones some new ones this year this coming year I've we've got five already scheduled for Richland Center High School and two of the families are new That have not hosted before so that's you know, I'm kind of looking for some new families as well as
probably bringing back some of the old other ones that have hosted over the years.
We'll talk a little bit more about that.
Marty, this is a new role for you, another hat to wear.
Yeah, I didn't have anything to do.
So I thought in between cleaning the Pine River and marketing the area for tourism, I thought, why not?
It is as far as a local representative or a coordinator, but I'm very familiar with the exchange relationship.
Terry and I hosted six exchange students throughout the years when we were raising kids and, you know, we really benefited greatly from those relationships.
I think our knowledge of the world.
really expanded.
We understood things better.
We've traveled to Europe probably seven or eight times to see the kids and, you know, we've been to weddings.
We've been to graduations.
We've seen new children.
It's just for us, you know, it's expanded our world.
you know, the experience is this, I think sometimes it scares folks, they think, oh, this is gonna be so much work, or it's gonna be so different, or it's odd, I've got a stranger in my house, you know, they do, they come, their English is gonna be spotty, they didn't learn
Midwestern English.
So you have to watch the slang a little bit because they don't understand what a bubbler is at all.
They don't, you know, soda or pop, you know, there's
people in the country that don't understand what a bubbler is.
You can go to the south.
Yeah, we don't know what they're saying.
They don't know what we're saying.
But what happens, I think on average about Thanksgiving.
They completely understand what you're talking about typically and the key is always are they dreaming in English?
That's when you know Okay, we're clearly communicating and and when that happens they kind of all of a sudden become your child and You become their parent It's just a for me.
It's a real cool relationship and it's tough because when they go back home they're crying
And you are too, you know, it's I had just so
ugly departure Veronica one of our exchange daughters from years ago we took her separate from the other kids down to O'Hare because she wanted us to take her and we were fine you know that's cool and we get down there and in her suitcase is you know five pounds overweight so now she's pulling stuff out of the suitcase to get it underweight she's crying it was just a hot mess and we're teary eyed and it's just it was brutal the good
end of that is we were recently to her wedding we just went back to Amsterdam to visit her she was of German but she married somebody from Amsterdam they have their own business they're expecting twins now that they've been trying to have kids and she's on Terry to come help when the kids are born and just you know the relationships really if you foster them at all will continue on and on and on
It's amazing if you have if you have kids that are high school age or whatever How that person like maybe comes in and they're the middle child then or they're the oldest the dynamic of the family is
it changes You know your birth order a little bit.
Yeah, our last host child child that we hosted was Vera Vera was just the neatest kid from Switzerland knew five languages and was just mature as mature could be
And she came just to try stuff.
Well, Leah had been the youngest for many years.
Well, Vera was a year younger than her.
And that really all of a sudden, Leah now is kind of shepherding Vera through things.
And that really expanded Leah's abilities and how she approached things.
So boy, I'll tell you, when somebody says to me, oh, we just we couldn't hold.
We demand too much.
Listen.
I think that the value and the gain that a family gets out of hosting exchange students
just the payoff is way above any commitment you're really making or any cost you know it just I really miss it I'll be honest with you that's why I'm back in it our daughter Holly out in Spokane has been hosting and is an area rep I've now become connected to her kids two of them specifically Marco from Italy who she had three years ago and now Javi who's there now calls calls me grandpa Marty and I be some
somehow when he first came I was there and I became this figure to him and when he had parents night for football he demanded that I come out for that and I did and I was I was the one that went out with him on parents night and those are just you know for me not I don't have a natural son and hobby and I really have developed a heck of a relationship considering we're 1300 miles apart
But he's always, when are you coming back out?
You know, he, he wanted to wrestle because he knew I knew wrestling.
And so then he wants to wrestle.
And that didn't turn out well.
He, uh, he's a real well built kid, but that was part of the problem.
He was wrestling kids that they're big dudes and they have wrestled a while.
And so he decided maybe just weightlifting was good for him.
Uh, and he switched there early, which was fine, but just.
you know, I think you can hear it in me that the relationships that you build with those kids, that's not a one year deal.
It goes on and on and on.
And just seeing them over the years is really special.
Kathy I know that they fit right in with the families but also it's an excellent opportunity for maybe your kids are out of school to kind of get reconnected with the school too.
Absolutely and that's why I keep hosting every year.
We feel like this is a really good way to stay in touch with what's going on with younger people, what they're thinking, what our world is going to be left to.
also keeps us young.
You know, both of us are now retired.
I've recently retired, so I have a little more time to work on this, which is why I'm hoping to find a few more host families.
But we've experienced the same types of things that Marty and Terry have, where we've gone back to Germany for two, while we went to one wedding in Germany, one wedding in Switzerland.
The girl from Switzerland is actually Kurdish.
Her family was removed from
Iraq when she was about two years old and taken to Switzerland and she grew up there.
She married a Swiss guy but their wedding was the most multicultural thing
I've ever seen in my life.
It was the Swiss wedding at this beautiful place with a lake and you know like a resort and then later in the evening came out the Kurdish stuff and it was dancing and this thing that they do
I can't even describe it.
It's not really yodeling, but it's kind of like that.
And all the women do this thing with their tongues, and they're doing all this stuff.
And the dances, they're all in their traditional dress.
She had her regular white wedding dress that she wore.
And then she later on in the evening, and her husband as well, dressed in the Kurdish traditional dress for that part of it.
And it went on until.
I don't know, we went to bed.
Finally, it was like three in the morning.
They
were still going.
So we were at that wedding.
We were also at this German wedding, which was much more a traditional thing.
We've got host grandkids.
I just talked with the first girl that we hosted.
She was here in 1989.
She's in Honduras, and we chatted over Facebook Messenger a couple of weeks ago.
So we've hosted
I think 26 kids now over the years, plus we've had relationships with quite a few others.
But we're in touch with all but one of those 26.
And the one that we're not in touch with went back to China and we kind of lost her.
So it's kind of hard to find anybody that's there because they're not a very open society.
But just like Marty said, you build these relationships.
We video chat with several of our kids.
We try to do it monthly.
And we will definitely be going to more weddings as they get to that age and sharing in their life events as part of their family.
And the other part of it is when you do go to visit them, their families are so grateful for what you've done for them while they were here that they embrace you as part of their family as well.
So it's really at this time in the world when everything is kind of...
you could say a little messy.
It really helps to understand other cultures when you've actually met a person and lived with a person from another culture and you see that we're all the same.
And I think that's the big thing.
Just a note on that.
Your family's all become the same family.
Our daughter Laurel was stationed in Italy, Aviano Air Force Base in Italy.
And one Christmas, she cannot come home and we
Although I'd love to go there.
I had been there that year.
We couldn't go again.
And so Vera Schmidt, who was one of our last children we hosted, lived in Switzerland, just over the Alps.
And they invited her, you know, Laurel, she could take the train and made it to them and spent Christmas with them.
And there are legendary stories.
of that Christmas that are not safe for radio problems.
But I mean, just celebrate a celebratory time that their family still talks about that Christmas that Laurel spent with them.
And I'm still hearing stories about it.
It was it was really cool.
But you think about that for a
person who is in Italy by themselves and then all of a sudden hey there's familiar people and I can go spend the Christmas with them that's just a unique connection I think and I think the biggest thing feel the reason I'm involved now in this other than I got horse collared by my daughter to do this it was a natural fit though and why it might sound a little odd that Kathy and I are who
We're friends.
We've known Dennis and Kathy have known Terry and I for a long time, and we get along just fantastic.
But why are two organizations working, you know, kind of talking here together, but yet we're really kind of trying to find those families apart?
You know, Ithaca, I know, you know, quite well, and we have had a lot of exchange students come through Ithaca.
I know Richland Center has, I know Kickapoo has.
Weston has as well between Ithaca and Weston last year.
There was one exchange student That is really unusual and I'm sorry.
It's sad because Especially at Ithaca at Ithaca if you're an exchange student you come in you're a rock star You are somebody you're you're gonna get an opportunity to do whatever sport you want
I always tell the story Vera was on the softball team the year that they went to state and it was one of the first years they won conference in a while and beat DeSoto at DeSoto.
She played a pivotal role in that game as a pinch hitter where she got a walk and it was early in the season so she's she didn't know a softball with varsity contest but what an experience for her
And at Ithaca, she was able to do that at the varsity level in an important game.
And the kids when they go, and really it's all school, these are all rural schools here.
I've kind of lectured about this before, whether it's River Valley or Richland Center or two of the biggest schools here in the area, or if it's Weston and Ithaca and Kickapoo or, you know, three of the smaller ones or Riverdale, those kids are known, they're looked out for, they're helped, you know, they, they become part of the year.
for those students that are there.
And it's very important to the students that are in school because they're learning from them as well.
Absolutely.
And I just, I think we're missing out a little bit on
that.
I think that's one of the, one of the things that I wanted to touch on is the benefits of having these kids here.
Not only does it benefit your own family, it benefits the school, it benefits the community, the kids in the schools.
maybe you never have a chance to meet a kid from another country unless we had these programs.
And also, it benefits the school because, I mean, let's be honest, schools are looking for every dollar they can get these days.
And if you have an exchange student...
you get to count them in your student count in September and you get aid for that student.
So it really does benefit the schools too.
I've run into some things with some of the schools that I've talked with where they've got a limit of one or two of these kids every year and I'm like, why?
Because you're able to honestly bring your student count up.
goes on a rolling three-year average, so if you can keep that level, you know, you're helping your school district as well.
So, you know, if a family is on the fence about it, I know Marty would love to talk to him, and so would I, because we've both had these great experiences, not only as coordinators, well, Marty's new to it, but he understands how it works, but also as host parents.
I know that my kids who are now close, almost 40, one's over 40, he has kids of his own and they really benefited from it when they were still with us.
They learned about all different kinds of cultures.
But I think really truly important is that these kids come in to a small rural school district where sometimes these kids don't get out of the area.
So the kids who live here,
They're not going to have this opportunity to meet kids from Morocco or even France and Germany unless we have these programs.
So finding these host families is the key because you have to have a family for the kid to live with before they can even get their visa and their travel arrangements.
So we have about, why if you have about 60 kids right now that are still awaiting placement from 17 different countries that I counted this morning.
They're getting placed quickly.
We would like to have them all placed by the beginning of August so that they can get their arrangements.
Now, last year, one of the students we had at Richland Center didn't get placed until the 1st of September, so he didn't get here until three weeks in.
He played soccer.
big part of the soccer team this year.
The student we hosted played soccer, girl soccer, and she had never played before.
She ended up getting the most improved player award at the end of the year, and she got quite a bit of playing time on varsity.
So they get involved in these things because it's something that they are not able to do in their home countries.
Most countries don't have what we have as school sports.
It's more club-oriented things like that.
Right.
So they
go to school, and if they're playing a sport, then they
They go to practices three times a week.
That's one of the big things that we've noticed.
The kids are like, every day.
We're
at
practice every day.
But it's different.
Are there adjustments?
Of course there are.
But if you keep the communication lines open, we've had almost all of our experiences been excellent, excellent experiences.
I think one of the things I've learned and the kids that we've hosted have mentioned was the social aspect, especially European students.
They spend more time at home or their school day is about school and it's not the full day and then they go home.
so they may go for four hours and then they might have a club sport sometimes and there are different kids they're connecting with sometimes other than the kids are at school you know in the United States the school is the hub that's really where everything connects through and
for our communities that's important because our schools are kind of the hub for us too.
So that's how you know the relationships become so common and why I think our communities benefit so much from those foreign exchange students because they are so interconnected through school.
But I know the exchange students we've had you know that first couple of weeks boy they're tired because the day is longer they're with their
they're, you know, friends and classmates that they're learning and they're learning, you know, okay, I got to think in English now.
So that first, you know, couple of three weeks, they're tired sometimes earlier in the day.
But then as it gets going, they kind of get their legs under them, then it's you can kind of see them kind of blossom and come out.
So it's just
I know our experience has just been fantastic.
And I will tell you, you know, Forte International has the same situation.
They have a lot of kids that want to come this year.
And they, you know, I've said that since 2020 and since COVID.
Things have changed in schools and in America in general.
I can tell you firsthand the flying public changed.
It's just different.
It seemed like people kind of want to shut down and get into their own cocoon and not be too engaged.
However, I know in our areas, in the rural areas, we're still pretty engaged.
We're still wanting to talk to our neighbors.
We still want to see how our neighbors are doing and we want to help them.
We are excellent.
for hosting exchange students because of that and because of the friendliness and so I just I think there are a lot of parents that have not thought about it they either just didn't know didn't know the opportunities there or they might think
Gosh, you know how much work that is, you know, for instance, I know we have a young lady looking to be placed here from Germany and her name's Lenny and she wants to run track in the worst way.
Track is her thing.
That's her club back in Germany.
And, you know, she also wants to try other stuff too, cheerleading or, you know, different volleyball.
She wants to play volleyball.
And, you know, I've always said I wouldn't.
Host an exchange student thinking you're gonna get that child onto that team and boy that was the missing piece But boy we have had in just in coaching I've had some kids come through that were just phenomenal additions to that group Almost more about how they became the glue
that held that group together because they just had such a fresh outlook on what was happening.
One of the years up at Weston, we had a young man that made all conference as a defensive end and he didn't know anything about football when he showed up.
But defensive end, we could teach him really basic and he was an athlete.
He was really good.
I think it was jujitsu or something.
He was really good at it and so he knew leverage.
and so I just said okay you're a defensive end just keep that outside arm and leg free and keep everything inside you and within about two JV games he had it figured out except for the day that he did he just point blank let a guy run outside of him like any kid just kind of lost focus didn't
take care of his assignment.
And I got him over on the sideline and I'm like, uh, what, what happened there?
And he goes, well, I did not understand your American slang when you gave me, and I'm like, you were doing it just fine for two games.
And then all of a sudden you took a break.
Don't give me the slang.
And so you have fun times like that with them, but I know, uh, I, I just really encourage, uh, parents that either a, you know, you've been curious about it and just want to chat about it.
Or the other thing is, you know, if you're sitting there and you have kids that are, you know, near and dear to you that like track, you know, like somebody like Lenny, she's ready to go.
And we do need to move.
I know the State Department is different now than it used to be.
And there are very, you know, things have to be, you know, bolded down and in good shape soon to make it work well.
I want to also stress, you know, not every kid is into sports.
So if you're a family that is, you know, more arts inclined, there are all different kinds of students who have all different kinds of interests, just like any family, any range of families does have
music
here, music, art, theater, you know, all of that stuff.
There's there's a student right now that that
I'm really hoping I can find a place for her.
She's from Japan.
Her name is Coco.
And she must be placed in Wisconsin because she's on a Kiko Min scholarship.
So there are several of those.
We had a student here back about nine years ago, Yuki from Japan.
You might remember him.
He was not a sports kid.
He ended up in the band.
with Mr. Barons, and absolutely loved it.
And he also played guitar, and he spent a lot of time in one of the teacher's rooms after school, who also played guitar, kind of became a mentor to Yuki.
Yuki came back to visit a couple of years ago.
We got to see him.
And so he was a kid that didn't fit the sports mold, but he fit in another way.
So if you're a family that's not really into sports that much,
there's a kid out there for you that would be a good fit for your family as well.
I think Coco is interested in playing basketball so you know obviously probably won't be on varsity because if she comes well if she comes to Richland Center
it's not likely that she'd make the varsity team, but she goes to one of these smaller schools in the area, who knows, but that's really what she wants to do, but she has other interests as well, music and art and that kind of thing.
A few years ago, we hosted a girl from Bulgaria that I don't know where that girl got her talent, but she is the most talented artist I have ever seen in my life, completely self-taught.
She got here and she had drawn a big, or painted a big...
bigger than life size portrait of Sam Smith down to the hairs on his arm.
I mean, it was so, if you looked at it, you would think it was him standing there.
It was so amazing.
But she, she wasn't into sports that much.
She didn't really do a sport, but she definitely made an impression on the art teacher here.
And he said, you know what?
You can do independent study because there's nothing I can teach you.
So she
decided to do a sculpture because she'd never done a sculpture before and what did she do?
She did a bust of Angelina Jolie and it was
amazing.
I mean, I can't even describe it.
It was so lifelike.
There's all kinds of kids out there, just like there's all kinds of people here.
And if you're thinking about hosting it all, I'm sure that between us, we can find you a kid that's going to fit well with your family.
And that's what I really enjoy doing.
It's sort of like being a matchmaker.
You know, you look at a kid,
When when the profiles come out I look through them all the time and I look at different kids that I you know every once in a while There's one that kind of stands out to you and I want this one would be so perfect with this family I'm gonna talk with them and see if maybe they'd want to host and that's worked really well for for Placing students for me.
It doesn't happen like that all the time Usually if somebody approaches me about hosting I look through and try to find five or six kids that might fit well and send them profiles so before they're
completely vetted, we can send the public profile, a voice recording, and the host family letter that the kids writes, because they always write a letter saying, dear host family, this is who I am, and this is what I'd like to do, and blah, blah, blah.
So I send those things to people, and then they can choose which one they feel like is going to be the best fit for them.
And I'm super happy to help doing that.
It's it's really kind of fun.
You get to kind of know the kids a little bit before they get placed and and you help a family find a match that's good for them.
We are talking about the need for exchange student host families in our area with Marty and Kathy and we'll have more coming up on the morning show.