Before:

Students at participating schools can apply to Interstate Scholars; the program is looking for student leaders with community involvement. Students who are selected as Interstate Scholars will be paired with a scholar from another school community, and assigned a host family to stay with during their visit.

During:

Each scholar will both visit another community and school, and be a guide at their own school for another scholar.

Visiting:

Scholars will travel to a school in another state during their own school’s spring break week. They will stay at the home of a host family. On Monday and Tuesday, they will go to their destination school with their partner scholar. On Wednesday, they will visit and learn about institutions of further education in the area, such as colleges and vocational schools. On Thursday and Friday, they will learn about an issue that affects their host community, and volunteer at an organization that helps with this issue.

Guiding:

Each scholar will have a chance to be a guide when another scholar visits their community. The visiting scholar will attend classes with the guide scholar on Monday and Tuesday of the visiting scholar’s spring break week.

After:

At the end of the program, scholars will gather for a final event, with their families or host families if possible, and scholars will share what they have learned.

Future Plans

As Interstate Scholars continues to build a network of schools and resources, the goal is to eventually move from running a spring break exchange to running a longer exchange program. Students will be able to study at a school in another state for either a semester or a full school year. Rather than following a guide student, they will have their own class schedule and will participate in the courses for credit. Volunteering and learning about post-high school education will still be important parts of the program. At this time, however, only the spring break exchange option is offered.

Why Participate?

Interstate Scholars offers a valuable chance to travel and learn. They can gain perspective, and develop a sense of how many options they have when choosing where to go in their life. They will also have access to Interstate Scholars’ resources for tutoring and for counseling regarding scholarships and schools they may wish to attend after high school.