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NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER
2007
HOSTING
NEWS
HOST FAMILY FINDING -- AN ON-GOING, NEVER-ENDING PROCESS
For this AFS hosting year, 2007-2008,Columbia Pacific is hosting 17 boysand 34 girls from 25 differentcountries, attending 38 differentschools. In addition we are most happyand proud to have five AFS VisitingTeachers; one semester teacher fromTurkey, and four year program fromChina.We could not have accomplished thistask without each and every one of ourhost family recruiters, lead followers,application reviewers, host familyinterviewers, school relationshipcultivators, orientation leaders, studentsupporters, gateway and welcomefamilies and of course, primarily, ourdear host families who have openedtheir homes and hearts to changingthe world person by person. The staffand volunteers working together makethis happen, but it is the families andthe students who make it possible atall.THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVEHELPED IN ANY WAY! Best Wishesto all for a life-changing, wonderfulyear!25 Countries: AUSTRIA; BRAZIL;CHILE; CHINA; DENMARK; EGYPT;FRANCE; FINLAND; GERMANY;GHANA; INDIA; INDONESIA; ITALY;JAPAN; KAZAKHSTAN; MEXICO;NETHERLANDS; PARAGUAY;PORTUGAL; SWEDEN;SWITZERLAND; THAILAND;TURKEY; UKRAINE; GREATBRITAIN.38 High Schools: Aloha; Astoria;Battleground; Beaverton; Camas;Century; Cleveland; David Douglas;Franklin; Glencoe; Grant; Gresham;Hood River; International School ofBeaverton (VT): Jason Lee MiddleSchool (VT); Kelso; Lakeridge; Lyle inDallesport; Madison; MetropolitanLearning Center; Mountain View;Oregon City; Pacific Crest CommunitySchool; Parkrose; Prairie; Sandy;Skyview; Sunset; The Dalles-Watonka;Tigard; Tillamook; Toledo; Tualatin;Washougal; West Linn; Westview;Wilsonville; and WoodstockElementary (VT).As always, I'd like to encourageeveryone to "speak AFS" at everyopportunity. We want hosting to be aprivilege and a joy and we'd like to getour kids placed earlier in the year, sothey can be corresponding with theirfamilies before they ever arrive. Thatwill only happen if each of us takes theresponsibility to share our experienceand plant the seeds of peace forothers to share the joy and challenge.In this, our 60
th
Anniversary year, I’dlike us all to think of ways to spreadthe word and vision for the mission by“peacing” the world together! Ifanyone out their likes to quilt, I’d lovesome help brainstorming about our60
th
Anniversary Quilt Project.
Sally
Ann,
Interim
Hosting
Coordinator
SENDING
NEWS
Columbia
Pacific
needs
one
or
two
volunteers
willing
to
learn
the
ropes
of
coordinating
the
sending
program
for
our
team.
Any
takers?
National
Winter
departure
sending
is
at
just
over
40%
of
goal.
NW
is
at
57%
of
goal.
Col
Pac
is
at
75%
of
goal,
with
three
months
to
Go!
Floyd
has
put
information
into
the
“Breeze”.
First
closing
for
winter
departures
is
New
Zealand
on
Sept
1
st
.
France
is
full.
Italy
has
MANY
spots
left.
Request
“Breeze”
for
further
information.
There
are
274
pre
‐
apps
in
the
system
nationally.
(It
is
estimated
that
it
takes
about
3
‐
4
leads
for
every
student
who
actually
ends
up
going.
There
is
a
West
program
for
Young
returnee
retrieval.
It
is
designed
to
get
our
most
recent
returnees
involved.
The
plan
is
to
invite
them
to
come
back
to
their
high
schools
the
day
before
Thanksgiving
to
give
presentations.
Local
volunteers
are
needed
to
help
coordinate
with
school
administrators
and
classroom
teachers.
A
mass
mailing
is
going
out
to
private
schools.
Key
areas
(like
Seattle)
are
being
looked
at
for
targeted
schools.
“Gift”
maps
are
being
sent
to
each
language
teacher
in
the
mailing
package
to
the
targeted
schools
this
year,
our
private
schools,
and
to
teachers
where
presentations
were
giving
last
year.
Mailings
being
hand
addressed.
Mailings
will
be
going
out
after
Labor
Day.
Col
Pac
requested
access
to
some
maps
to
have
available
when
the
students
do
their
International
Education
Week
presentations
in
their
school
in
November.
Floyd
Van
Weelden,
West
Sending
Manager
COLUMBIA
PACIFIC
AREA
TEAM
NEWS
THE
CHAIR
REPORT
– Bonnie
Richardson
‐
Kott
The
volunteers
of
the
AFS
Columbia
Pacific
Area
Team
extend
a
warm
welcome
to
our
arriving
students
for
the
2007
‐
2008
year!
We
also
welcome
all
of
our
new
host
families
and
many
new
volunteers
who
are
embarking
on
a
fantastic
cultural
experience
right
here
in
the
Pacific
Northwest
just
by
becoming
involved
with
AFS.
For
this
first
newsletter
of
the
school
year,
I
wanted
to
provide
you
with
a
brief
introduction
to
our
local
AFS
volunteer
network.
There
are
7
Teams
in
the
AFS
Northwestern
Region.
The
Columbia
Pacific
Area
Team
is
made
up
of
approximately
10
units/chapters/clusters
(the
name
of
the
“local
units”
varies
depending
upon
who
you
talk
to)
and
these
units
extend
from
the
green
foothills
of
Chehalis,
Washington
to
the
outlet
malls
of
Woodburn
and
from
the
shores
of
Tillamook
to
roaring
rivers
of
the
Columbia
Gorge
in
the
Dalles.
We
lovingly
like
to
refer
to
our
team
as
the
Col
‐
Pac
Area
Team.
Ideally,
we’d
like
to
have
each
chapter
locally
responsible
for
the
students
hosted
within
their
geographic
boundaries
and
so
we’re
working
on
building
chapters
with
a
strong
core
group
of
volunteers.
The
Area
Team
sort
of
oversees
the
chapters
and
puts
together
the
events
that
involve
all
students
such
as
Camp
Adams
and
the
trip
to
Pendleton.
We’re
always
looking
for
people
who
would
like
to
become
volunteers.
This
year,
we
are
hosting
52
students
and
5
teachers
and
we
sure
could
use
your
help.
If
you
are
interested
in
taking
on
a
position
with
our
Team
or
perhaps
with
a
local
chapter,
give
Sally
Ann
(our
Volunteer
Coordinator)
a
call
at
(503)
452
‐
1868
and
she’d
be
happy
to
match
you
up
to
the
perfect
volunteer
spot.
The
relationships
you
make
through
an
intercultural
exchange
program
like
AFS
last
a
lifetime.
My
husband,
Greg
participated
in
an
exchange
program
in
1988
when
he
was
in
high
school
in
Edmond,
Oklahoma.
He
stayed
with
a
family
in
St.
Pois,
France
and
had
two
host
brothers.
It
was
a
true
exchange
back
then
because
both
of
the
brothers
later
stayed
with
Greg’s
family
in
Oklahoma.
Since
then,
they
have
remained
in
contact
and
have
visited
each
other
on
and
off
throughout
the
years.
In
fact,
one
of
the
brothers,
Nicolas,
and
his
fiancé
just
visited
us
last
month.
It
was
amazing
to
see
Greg
and
Nick
together
–
picking
right
up
where
they
left
off
at
the
last
visit
9
years
ago.
So,
students
and
families
and
liaisons
and
volunteers,
get
ready
for
a
lifetime
of
memories
and
relationships
that
all
begin
right
now.
Bonnie
Richardson,
Columbia
Pacific
Area
Team
Chair
1988
Greg,
Nicolas
and
French
Family,
The
Davids
2007
Nicolas
and
Greg
‐ ‐
19
years
later
AFS/USA
NEWS
AFS
Intercultural
Programs/USA
Announces
Transition
to
New
President
and
CEO
New
York
NY
‐‐
After
ten
years
of
service
with
distinction
as
President
and
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
AFS
Intercultural
Programs/USA,
Alex
J.
Plinio
will
retire
on
December
31,
2007.
The
Board
of
Directors
is
pleased
to
announce
that
after
an
extensive
search
and
interview
process
including
candidates
in
academia,
diplomacy,
not
‐
for
‐
profits,
business,
and
other
sectors,
Margaret
Crotty
has
been
selected
as
the
next
President
and
CEO
of
AFS
‐
USA.
Under
the
strong
and
focused
leadership
of
Alex
Plinio
and
the
Board
of
Directors,
AFS
‐
USA
has
gone
from
surviving
as
one
of
the
oldest
student
exchange
organizations
in
the
United
States,
to
thriving
as
one
of
the
industry’s
largest
and
most
well
‐
respected
leaders
in
international
high
school
student
exchange.
“There
were
many
challenges
we
needed
to
face
while
taking
AFS
‐
USA
from
financial
crisis
to
stabilization,”
explained
Alex
Plinio.
“As
a
leader
in
high
school
student
exchange,
AFS
‐
USA
also
needed
to
deal
with,
and
in
many
cases
help
set
the
standards
for,
operating
international
programs
of
the
highest
quality
during
times
of
extreme
crises
such
as
terrorism
and
the
attacks
of
9/11,
the
SARS
epidemic,
environmental
catastrophes,
and
political
events.
These
challenges
presented
all
of
us—board,
volunteers,
alumni,
staff,
donors,
and
others—with
opportunities
to
do
some
of
our
best
thinking
as
we
asked
the
hard
questions,
made
tough
decisions,
rolled
‐
up
our
sleeves
and
worked
together.
I
have
no
doubt
that
Margaret
Crotty
will
lead
with
the
kind
of
tenacity
and
teamwork
that
will
move
AFS
‐
USA
forward
in
its
work
while
furthering
the
mission
of
this
outstanding
organization.”
Margaret
Crotty
comes
to
AFS
‐
USA
with
a
wide
range
of
experience
in
both
the
non
‐
profit
and
for
‐
profit
sectors
with
expertise
in
international
education
and
training.
Her
enthusiasm
for
student
exchange
began
early
in
life.
Not
only
was
Margaret
a
high
school
exchange
student
to
France
and
a
college
exchange
student
to
Morocco,
but
she
is
also
host
sister
to
16
exchange
students
from
throughout
the
world
who
were
hosted
by
Margaret’s
family
while
she
was
growing
up
in
New
York
City.
Following
her
graduation
from
Princeton
University,
Margaret
went
to
work
for
Save
the
Children
where
she
evaluated
community
development
programs
throughout
Indonesia
and
worked
with
rural
women
to
build
micro
‐
enterprises.
“From
that
experience
and
others,
I
knew
I
wanted
to
lead
a
global
organization
that
makes
an
impact
on
people
all
over
the
world,”
she
explained.
With
this
life
goal
in
mind
Margaret
returned
to
the
U.S.
and
earned
her
MBA
at
Harvard
Business
School.
Margaret
Crotty
joined
the
global
corporation
EF
Education
where
she
worked
for
seven
years
in
senior
management
positions
for
several
of
their
businesses,
lived
in
the
U.S.,
Shanghai,
Hong
Kong,
and
Paris,
and
played
a
key
role
in
building
their
Internet
‐
based
English
language
training
and
higher
education
businesses.
“I
have
long
admired
the
reputation,
work,
and
mission
of
AFS
Intercultural
Programs
and
am
extremely
excited
to
join
AFS
‐
USA
at
this
time
in
its
history.”
said
Margaret
Crotty.
“As
international
education
and
intercultural
exchange
continue
to
play
an
increasingly
critical
role
in
our
public
diplomacy
efforts
worldwide,
AFS
‐
USA
will
help
to
lead
the
way.
Most
immediately,
I
am
looking
forward
to
meeting
and
working
with
many
people
who
have
volunteered
for
and
supported
this
organization
through
the
years,
and
will
have
an
opportunity
to
do
that
when
AFS
celebrates
its
60
th
anniversary
this
fall.”
Margaret
Crotty
joined
AFS
in
August
2007.
She
is
currently
working
with
Alex
Plinio
to
help
ensure
a
smooth
transition
while
visiting
AFS
offices
in
the
U.S.
and
abroad
where
she
is
meeting
and
getting
to
know
as
many
AFS
Staff
and
Volunteers
as
possible.
She
will
assume
full
responsibilities
as
President
and
Chief
Executive
Officer
on
October
16,
2007.
Alex
Plinio
will
become
President
Emeritus
of
AFS
‐
USA
until
he
retires
at
the
end
of
the
year,
after
which
he
will
serve
as
a
consultant
to
AFS
‐
USA
through
March
2008.
Margaret
will
be
based
in
the
AFS
‐
USA
National
Office
in
New
York
City
and
can
be
reached
at
212
‐
299
‐
9000
or
MCrotty@afs.org.
Her
Executive
Assistant
is
Judy
Reis.
As
part
of
our
AFS
family,
we
hope
that
you
will
have
an
opportunity
to
meet
Margaret
Crotty
in
the
near
future
and
will
welcome
her
warmly
as
she
begins
her
work
with
AFS
‐
USA.
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