Date: Fri 11-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

AFS-Van-Tassel-Stokes

Full Text:

Host Families Sought For AFS Students

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

When the local chapter of the American Field Service (AFS) was first founded

in Newtown in the late 1950s, it seemed the whole town was behind the program,

according to longtime Sandy Hook resident and AFS chapter founder, Caroline

Stokes.

In those days, Mrs Stokes and her friends, Jean Roberts and Betty Lou Osborne,

had no trouble marshalling support for AFS.

"We had a roster of 50 or so people willing to help," Mrs Stokes said

recently.

The Newtown AFS chapter not only raised money so that Newtown students could

participate in the program and live abroad for a year, it was very active and

successful in finding Newtown families to welcome foreign AFS students into

their homes.

"Now, it's another generation. The whole scheme of family life has changed,"

Mrs Stokes added somewhat regretfully.

More mothers work, she said, and families are so busy they hesitate to commit

themselves further by offering their homes.

Also, it is expensive for a local student to participate in AFS through travel

to another country. As much as $5,000 may be needed, and the local AFS chapter

must do what it can to help defray that cost.

For a variety of reasons, therefore, Mrs Stokes has found local support for

AFS to be "haphazard" at best.

Although Newtown currently has two AFS students, from Germany and Turkey,

living with local families and attending Newtown High School, the AFS program

here has dwindled over the years - a trend that Mrs Stokes and Newtown AFS

adviser Linda Van Tassel are determined to see reversed.

"We're not asking for miracles, we simply seek support -if not with

fund-raising, then with housing," Mrs Van Tassel said.

"When the national AFS headquarters has already started placing students and

we can't accept them here because we don't have host families waiting, it's

sad," she added.

How To Host An AFS Student

For those Newtown families who would like to know more about becoming an AFS

host family, Mrs Van Tassel gave a general explanation of what would be

involved.

The foreign students come to the United States as an AFS group in July and may

tour together for a time, she said. In late August, they will be joining their

host families, hopefully to stay with them until the end of the school year.

"Although AFS students have independent finances, they don't pay room or board

and they are also not allowed to drive," Mrs Van Tassel said.

But you don't have to have a student in the school system in order to have an

AFS student, she said, nor do your children need to be the same age as the AFS

student.

Also, she said, "a separate bedroom is not a requirement," though it is often

helpful in making a smooth adjustment.

There is a district AFS group [Newtown, Easton, Redding, Seymour and

Southbury] and there is the national AFS office based in Springfield, Mass.,

both available to support the host families and the students, she said.

"On April 28, our local chapter is entertaining the Seymour chapter and the

Newtown High culinary department will be catering," she said, adding that

anyone wishing to attend the open house and meet the local AFS students would

be most welcome.

AFS Success Stories

Working together to revitalize the Newtown AFS chapter, Mrs Stokes and Mrs Van

Tassel bring differing perspectives to their joint effort.

Not only was Mrs Stokes an AFS chapter founder and, later, the third local AFS

president, she and her husband, Robert, have seen how much their daughter,

Nancy, benefited from her participation in the program 20 years ago.

"Nancy went to Afghanistan on AFS and followed that experience with a two-year

job at AFS headquarters in New York," said Mr Stokes.

Mrs Van Tassel, a resource center counselor at Newtown High, has been working

closely with Newtown's 1996/97 AFS students, getting to know Lydia Rauh from

Germany and Mete Yurtyapan from Turkey. She has also been talking with their

AFS host families, the Presnells and the McCuskers.

The following is a letter Mrs Van Tassel wrote, sharing this year's AFS host

families' positive reactions and asking community support for the AFS program.

Host Families Share Insights

"Teenage girls are the same regardless of the country from which they come!"

According to Mrs Presnell, who is the host mother for Lydia Rauh, our exchange

AFS student from Germany, having a young person in your family causes you to

not only open your home but also to open your heart.

Lydia Rauh [from Dresden, Germany] has motivated the Presnells to visit places

that the family has not toured, in order to show Lydia a variety of areas

while she is in the USA.

Mete Yurtyapan [from Gaziantep, Turkey] is Newtown's other AFS student. Mete

lives with the McCusker family this school year.

"This experience is a family affair. Energy is needed from both the exchange

student and the family members to make the year a success. We have found our

time with Mete to be a very positive one," shares Mrs McCusker.

The schools and community thank these two families for their generosity and

kindness to Lydia and Mete. We are all benefiting and enjoying their year with

us.

We invite families to join in the fun and be a host family for one of our AFS

exchange students. If you have questions or are interested in helping with the

AFS program, please call Linda Van Tassel at Newtown High School, 426-7651 or

Caroline Stokes at 426-2409.

We are organizing an interest group to support our AFS program with your time,

talents, transportation and generosity. Help us keep AFS an important

influence for Newtown!

- Linda Van Tassel