For YEOs

So, you are the new YEO (Youth Exchange Officer) for your club. Now what? What does your role entail?  What can you expect? Here you will find a quick overview of your responsibilities. A much more complete instruction can be found by downloading and reviewing the YEO manual. This position is one of the most important roles in our Youth Exchange Program, it is up to this person to both recruit potential outbound students, place inbound students with host families, monitor the progress of both students throughout the year and work with the YEAH database.

 

On this page there is a lot of great information to assist you with your job. Review it and ask questions of the Youth Exchange Committee. Members of the Committee are a great resource for you, they can answer so many questions for you especially while you are learning the job.

 

Complete the vetting background process on all volunteers that work with the Youth Program.  This includes counselors,  host family members and general club members that want to be involved with the student program in more than a casual way. This process is explained in detail in the YEAH HUB and Portal Basic Instructions file under the YEAH heading on this website.

 

It is recommended that you develop a Youth Exchange Committee; your team can assist you in all matters Youth Exchange. Your team should consist of yourself, your club’s student counselor and at least one other vetted Rotarian. You can ask your Youth Protection officer to join your team or any other interested Rotarian that has the same passion for the program as you do. It is most advisable that you have at a minimum 3 vetted Rotarians in your club.

 

The easiest way is to ask at a club meeting who would be interested in working with you in the program. You may be surprised at how many want to help out; they just don’t want to be the “leader”. Get the names of those interested and set up a meeting with them, individually or in a group setting, to find out their desire; what would they like to do? Would they be most interested in working directly with the student? Do they like handling paperwork and working with the database? Perhaps they would be happy to be the “events planner” – getting club members involved with the student for fun activities or even a dinner at home – helping the club get to know your student.

 

Once you find your team you will need to get them vetted in the YEAH database. District 5050 requires all adults working with our youth for more than just casual contact be fully vetted. Having them vetted in the database allows them to assist you in follow up visits with both the host family and the student.

 

In early September you will need to make arrangements with the school to talk to students about the program. This can take place in several ways; a school assembly; a class of 9^th or 10^th  graders with a sympathetic teacher that will allow you to take up time in their classroom, flyers; Interact or Key Club; and many other possibilities. You will need to introduce the program to these students. We recommend 9^th or 10^th graders because although a student can choose to go out in their 12^th grade year, it is ideal for them to go in their grade 10 or 11. There are many reasons for this, but a very important reason is they will be there to help you talk to the students about the program after their return. In fact, using the current inbound and the most recent rebound to talk about the program is the best sales tool we have. You should be there only to advise, let the students do the talking.

 

Follow this up with an information night where you invite interested students and parents to hear more about the program, you will have an interview night scheduled and you will need to assemble an interview panel (this should not be more than 4 people and if the rebound student is available – use them as one of your panel). Interviews should be set no later than October 15^th . Once a student is selected to go forward to the district interviews, send them the Online Application link (located in the sidebar). You should help them to get their application completed by the end of October. The application is very lengthy and requires a letter written by both the student and parents, as well as medical and dental exams, school transcripts and references. Don’t be shy about asking the student to rewrite the letter if it is not in good format. This is the first impression their future host will have of them and it needs to be their best. Pay attention to sentence structure and grammar. Did they answer all the questions?

 

Time and time again we hear that this is the hardest part of the job. It is your responsibility, along with your entire club, to find appropriate host families for your inbound student. To get a view on best practices and how to vet your families review the process under “Host Families”. Ideally you should have three qualified families, but two will suffice. All families do not need to be selected prior to the student’s arrival, however a first family must be previously vetted in the spring prior to the student’s arrival in August in order to fulfill Guarantee Form requirements.

 

You will be directed by the club coordinator when you need to register your students for events like; inbound orientation, outbound interviews, mid-winter orientation, and district conference. 

 

You should be checking in with the school on a regular basis to see how your student is doing. Do they require some additional tutoring to help them in the beginning? Would a change in classes be beneficial? Be sure to work closely with your club’s student counselor to insure timely school checks. 

 

Familiarize yourself with the student travel policy and make sure the student and all host families are familiar with the requirements. When a student requests travel, make sure all the information is there before sending it on up the chain for final approval (if it is needed). All students must submit a Travel Request form for any travel that requires more than the Host Family approval.

 

Checking in with the student and family often (at a minimum once every 30 days) to see how things are going. A monthly Counselor's Report needs to be submitted to the YEAH database. See the YEAH instructions on how to do this.

 

Try to keep in touch with the outbound student, this can be easier said than done because they are so busy in their new life, but many clubs require their students to send home monthly reports.