Tom Hosts End-of-Year Get-Together

Tom McDermott's home in Ormond Beach was the site for the final gathering of Florida's 2002-03 inbounds, as 22 students from four districts came together on Memorial Day weekend. Trips to the beach and downtown Daytona were among the highlights, but the most lasting memories might well be the tear-filled goodbyes. There's no doubt that close friendships were made among the inbounds from Districts 6990, 6930, 6980, and our own 6970, friendships that will be maintained in the future by e-mails, phone calls, and probably visits in many different countries.

Thanks to Tom for once again opening up his home for this special weekend. And thanks to Tim and Arne for being such great hosts as well!

Alby Follows in His Father's Footsteps

In 1987, a Rotary Group Study Exchange team from Cagliari, Italy spent a month in Monterey, California. One member of that team, Ciro Dolci, showed his hosts pictures of his 18-month-old son, Alberto, and they gave him a teddy bear to bring back home. As often happens in both Youth Exchange and the Group Study Exchange program, Ciro has stayed in contact with his hosts, who have watched the little boy grow up through photographs.

Today, of course, Ciro's son Alby (left) is one of our inbound exchange students, and in March he was invited to visit the family that had hosted his father 16 years ago. It was a wonderful trip for Alby, who performed his ambassador role on the west coast as well has he has done in Florida: "I talked about the exchange program during a Rotary meeting... can you believe that this 75 years old club doesn't sponsor any students? I hope to have convinced them that it is really a good thing..."

While in California, Alby also received a special certificate from the mayor of Monterey! Perhaps that was something to make his father jealous! No report on whether Alby took the teddy bear with him.

A Florida Celebration of Rotary Youth Exchange

More than 240 Rotarians, guests, and exchange students from around the world gathered in Orlando, Florida on February 20-23 for the fourth annual USA-Canada Youth Exchange Conference. The event offered informative and interesting sessions, challenging topics for discussion, plenty of sunshine and warmth (especially appreciated by attendees from northern states and provinces), and an inspiring banquet that concluded with about 40 exchange students, on stage, singing "Love in Any Language" and "We Are The World". By the end of the second song, the entire room was on its feet, holding hands, singing along, and shedding tears of pride and joy for the program.

More pictures from Orlando may be seen here (thanks to our friends in D6990).

Ten Area Teens Selected as 2003-04 Outbounds

The District 6970 Youth Exchange Committee is proud to announce that ten area high school students have been selected to spend the 2003-04 school year overseas, as Rotary Exchange Students. This represents a dramatic increase in the size of the outbound class, and is a strong endorsement of the program and the adventurousness of northeast Florida teens in taking on this challenge.

The students, representing four high schools and nine Rotary clubs, will go to eight different countries around the world: Austria, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Thailand. Prior to their departure, they will have a series of orientation sessions, and meet with inbound students, former outbound students (Rotex), and members of the District YE Committee, to help them prepare for their year abroad.

The inbound side of the program will also grow again next year, as we expect to host between 13 and 16 students for the year. Host clubs are still being sought - interested Rotarians can contact any member of the YE Committee.

We congratulate the outbound students on their selection, and look forward to working with them over the next several months. Meet the Outbound Class of 2003-04.

YE Committee Interviews 15 Candidates

Members of the District 6970 Youth Exchange Committee spent the weekend of January 11-12 interviewing 15 area high school students who applied to spend the 2003-04 year abroad as Rotary Exchange Students. Decisions on acceptance and placement of successful applicants will be announced shortly.

In addition to committee members, the interview team included inbound students, rebound students (Rotex), Rotary Club presidents-elect, and District Governor Elect Ken Smallwood. It was a fascinating, inspiring, full day of getting to know some outstanding candidates.

The students who applied came from five area high schools: Mandarin and Douglas Anderson in Jacksonville, Bartram Trail and Nease in St. Johns County, and Eastside in Gainesville. These are the same five schools that YE committee members visited to make presentations in November and December, which clearly points out that the students will respond if they learn about the program. The committee hopes to visit many more schools next year, while encouraging local clubs to do the same.

The resulting dramatic increase in the number of outbound students will also translate into the largest class of inbound students arriving this summer. Clubs throughout District 6970 will have the opportunity to step forward to host one of the 15 or so inbounds that will spend the 2003-04 year here in northeast Florida. Clubs are encouraged to contact YE Chair Al Kalter or any member of the district committee to indicate their interest along with any preference as to gender or country.

RI President Bhichai Rattakul in Jacksonville

Over 1000 Jacksonville-area Rotarians were honored and privileged to welcome Rotary International President Bhichai Rattakul to our city on January 6. Rotary's leader spoke to a packed ballroom at the Adam's Mark Hotel, a crowd that included Rotarians, guests, Interact and Rotaract members, and, of course, our inbound exchange students.

The RI President was welcomed by District Governor Tommy Grimes, Jacksonville Rotary President Dick Mueller, Mayor John Delaney, and Congressman Ander Crenshaw. He participated in the presentation of a Rotary "Service Above Self" Award to Rotarian Albert "Bud" Toole, recognized several major donors to the Rotary Foundation, and handed out 42 new Paul Harris Fellow awards. His speech focused on the many good things Rotarians can and do get involved with around the world, and reinforced Rotary's commitment to the eradication of polio by 2005.

Our exchange students were able to meet with President Bhichai before the luncheon, and his warm personality and down-to-earth approach were noticed and appreciated immediately. Singled out for special treatment was our own Chavakorn "Ling" Leelakul, inbound student from Thailand, President Bhichai's home country. Ling was invited to sit on the dais during the luncheon, and found herself right next to the RI President! We hope she remembered which fork to use first! :-)

Dressed up exchange students with the RI Pres	Ling and someone else from Thailand at the head table

Lots of Special Events to Welcome 2003

District 6970's inbound exchange students have several great opportunities for fun and friendship, coming up in the first few months of 2003. Here is what their calendars include:

	January 6: District 6970 Luncheon with RI President Bhichai Rattakul, at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Jacksonville.
	January 11-12: Interviews for our outbound candidates for 2003-04. Some inbound students will be invited to participate.
	January 30 - February 3: Sea Camp Trip to the Florida Keys with our friends from District 6990 and elsewhere.
	February 20-23: USA-Canada Youth Exchange Conference in Orlando. Our students join others from around Florida for this special event. More...
	March 26-31: New York City Trip with our ESSEX friends. Download the Tour Information Package, or just the Parents' Permission Form to get required signatures. Note: the deadline for forms and money to be submitted is January 15!
	June and July: A variety of end-of-year trips are available to our students, some regional and some national. District 6990 has compiled a list of tours that you might be interested in.

Meetings Scheduled for Interested Students and Parents

Students who may be interested in participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange program in 2003-04, and their parents, are urged to attend a meeting at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, December 11, at the Mandarin Ramada Inn on San Jose Blvd at I-295 Exit 5. A second meeting, for those unable to make the first, will be held at 7:00 PM on Thursday, December 19, at the La-Z-Boy Furniture store, 1680 Southside Blvd., at the intersection of Southside and Atlantic Blvd. in the Regency section of Jacksonville.

IMPORTANT: A third and final meeting, last chance for interested students and parents before the long-term application deadline, will be held at 7:00 PM, Sunday, December 22, at the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery as above. If you cannot make this one, and still wish to apply, contact Chairman Al Kalter ASAP, by e-mail at al@kaltermail.com, or by phone at 904-230-2817.

This meeting is for candidates for both the long-term and short-term programs, and will answer questions and help students prepare their application forms in advance of the upcoming deadlines. Members of the District 6970 Youth Exchange Committee will be joined by former outbound students, current inbound students, parents of outbounds, and host parents to provide insight into all aspects of the program.

Those who plan to attend the meeting are asked to e-mail rotary@kaltermail.com to indicate their intent, so that the meeting room can be properly set up.  Any area student who cannot attend is urged to contact the committee to try to arrange an alternate date. Remember that the final deadline for long-term applications is December 31, for short-term January 31.

A Fun Weekend in Daytona Beach

You have to tip your hat to Tom McDermott, member of our District Youth Exchange Committee and Daytona Beach West Rotarian. On the weekend of October 18-20, Tom had no fewer than 14 exchange students at his house! 

All nine of our D6970 inbounds were joined by three from District 6930 (to our south), one from District 6950 (west coast - St. Petersburg), and Tom's "other" host son, to enjoy the sights and sounds of Daytona's "Biketoberfest" weekend. The group also had a couple of trips to the beach, including rides on the "Sky Coaster", and, of course, lots of time in the pool. There was also a dinner on Saturday night with several Rotarian guests, and, needless to say, very little sleep.

Thanks to Tom for opening his home to all the kids. They're certainly looking forward to taking you up on your offer to do it again in the spring!

Inbound Students Must Notify US State Dept of All Address Changes

It has been confirmed with the J-Visa office at the U.S. Department of State that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Form "AR 11" must be completed by J-1 Visa secondary school students (that's all of our inbound students) whenever they change their residence (host family). This change of address form must be completed by the exchange student and submitted within 10 days of a change of address. It is the responsibility of the exchange student to submit the proper form for each change in address.

According to a recent Justice Department announcement, all non-immigrants and permanent residents are required to submit notification of a change of address to the INS Headquarters within 10 days. Failure to report this information is punishable by fine or imprisonment and/or deportation. The requirement to notify the INS of a change of address has long been in effect, but up to now, has rarely been enforced.

More information is available from the INS website. The form is downloadable from there, or from our site. When you complete the form, make three extra copies. Retain one copy of this submission for your records, send a copy to your district counselor, give another copy to your host club Youth Exchange Officer, and send the original form via certified mail or a service such as Federal Express to the INS at the address on the form.

We have received some guidance on the "A number" required on the form. Apparently only immigrants have an A number; therefore, you can leave it blank. Where it asks the date that your stay in the U.S. expires, you should write "D/S" (stands for "Duration of Stay") and, in parentheses, write the expiration date on your IAP-66 form.

If you have any questions, please contact any member of the D6970 Youth Exchange Committee.

District 6970 Clubs Hosting 9 Inbounds in 2002-03

The growth of the Rotary Youth Exchange program continues in District 6970, as the 2002-03 class of inbounds will include nine year-long students from seven different countries. They will be hosted by eight different clubs in the district. All Rotarians are urged to meet and get to know these outstanding young people:

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