Host families are a critical way to connect visiting scholars to a community. A host family provides shelter, meals, and some transportation—but just as importantly, host families show scholars the area, discuss matters of community interest, and answer questions. They provide a safe space for scholars to reflect on what they learn, and encourage scholars’ understanding of new concepts and issues.
Why Participate?
Host families have a chance to show visiting scholars the best their community has to offer. These families embody the hospitality, energy, and kindness of their home community. They can share the traditions and innovations their home is proud of, and guide scholars to get the most out of their unique experience. Interstate Scholars is particularly looking for host families who are involved in their communities. Such families make excellent mentors for growing leaders.
Additionally, members of the host family will have a chance to learn about another community through interactions with their visitor, a type of traveling-from-home. They can form friendships, gain new perspectives, and even learn more about themselves in the process of hosting a scholar from a different state.
What Is Involved?
Host families should live within 15 miles of the school scholars are going to visit. They should have a room where the scholar can sleep; it’s all right if the scholar shares a room with another child, as long as they are the same gender and under 18. In particular, Interstate Scholars is looking to place scholars in households with one or more high-school-aged children, and at least two adults. The family should also be able to provide up to three meals a day for the scholar. They should have internet access in their home so that they can access important information Interstate Scholars will provide, such as the scholar’s schedule, and have remote meetings with Interstate Scholars team members.
Application Process
If you are a family that is interested in hosting a scholar, you should first fill out an Interest to Host a Student form. This form lists the basic requirements for host families. You will need to consent to let Interstate Scholars get a background check on everyone in your household who is 18 or older.
After Interstate Scholars receives this form, it will send you a Host Family Application. You should complete this application and send it back within two weeks. This is also when you can indicate if you’re willing to host two students. The deadline for application submission is October 31.
After the application is sent back, Interstate Scholars will set up a meeting within three weeks, or before November 15. This will be an in-person interview at your home. The interviewer will ask questions to get to know you as a family and to learn about your interests, and they will look around your home to make sure it meets space and safety requirements. Interviews will not be scheduled after November 15.
After the interview and background checks, you will be notified to let you know if you have been accepted as a host family.
During the Program
As an accepted host family, you will be paired with a scholar; you will have a chance to meet them remotely, and their guardian(s) will approve of the pairing before it is finalized. Two weeks before they arrive, you and the other local host families will have an orientation to discuss subjects like household rules and the scholars’ schedules. This is also a good time to ask any new questions that have occurred to you.
The scholars will arrive on the first Sunday of their home school’s spring break. They will have a welcome dinner along with their local partner scholars. On Monday and Tuesday, they will attend school with their partner scholars. On Wednesday they will visit and learn about schools for post-high-school education in the area. On Thursday and Friday they will help out at a local volunteer organization. On Friday evening, the visiting scholars, local partner scholars and their families, and host families will have a dinner together to discuss their experiences. Scholars will travel home on Sunday. Other than the two group meals and lunches during the week, scholars will eat meals with their host families, and they will spend seven nights at the host family’s home.
After the Program
After your visiting scholar flies home, you will hopefully feel enriched by your hosting experience. It is possible that your visitor may stay in contact with you, especially if they have become friends with members of your family. You may have the chance to watch the effects you’ve had on your scholar continue to shape them over time, and perhaps continue to shape your own children as well. And, if you feel that hosting was a truly rewarding experience, you can always apply to host another scholar next year.
Interstate Scholars 