While you are waiting, would you please answer these questions:

~ Why is YE important, why do we do this?

~ What are some of the key factors you have discovered to make a strong YE program?

~ What do you believe you or your YE committee does really well?

~ What do you wish your club did better?

~ What do you wish the District would do for you or do differently?

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE 301September 11, 2010

Most important features of a strong YE program

~ Know your WHY

WHY do you do this? Do you feel passionate about your WHY?

Does your Club know the WHY?

How can your Club learn the WHY?

Strong Support at the Club level

Keep your Rotary Board informed and make sure they understand the WHY.

Recruit and work with strong supporters, these might be on your YE Committee

Have your Inbound student attend the meetings~ Introduce your student to the club with an informational flyer.~ Introduce your student at every meeting~ Invite your fellow club members to do activities with the student.

Keep your Club informed about your Outbound Student~ Have the Outbound Correspondent give short updates on the student.~ Blog links on webpage~ Pictures of Outbound Students

Strong Support from your High School

Personally get to know the Principals, Vice Principals and the CounselorsCoffee and donuts dateFrequent stops at the school to say Hi and see if everything is OKIf you have more than one HS in your community, work with one until things are well established.Invite HS staff to Rotary meetings, especially when a student is presenting

Make sure the key people have your contact information, especially emailI have made available via email the list of host familiesCounselors play a key role with the school staff too

Ideas: pdf. the students application and send it to the School registrar

Make sure you also have a relationship with the School Activities Director too and know the rules there.

Good PR: Focus on the positive

Tell the success storiesNewspapersWhen you speak to the public: on the street, meetings, etc.Even when a student struggles remember that they are in a learning curve; we are about learning.

Do some kind of display board so that you can take this to events to highlight the Rotary Youth Exchange program.Talks at the High SchoolRotary meetings when student speaks

Encourage the students, host families to tell their own stories

Deal with the difficult moments with a positive attitude. Take control, be proactive

Broad participation with club members

Recruit supportersInterviews of potential Outbounds

Interview host families

Recruiting at the HS

Meeting with HS staff, choose someone who has some known-ness in the community

Counselors, Correspondents

Always invite club members to participate with youshare the fun!

Host families feel supported

Counselors and YEO play an active Role

Host families feel like they get to do the fun things.Counselors set up the bank accounts, enroll the student in school, etc.

If there are issues to be addressed, they arent aloneCounselors help the family address the issue, with or without the family

Host families are thanked frequentlyWe do a special graduation party for the students and we make a special time to thank and acknowledge the Host Families (flag and flowers)If there is any newspaper publicity I try to make sure the host families get mentioned

Display of Host Family HistoryThey are a critical piece to the success of this program

Students are held accountable

Our customer is Rotary not the student. Our goal is World Peace and the student is the vehicle for that. We are not a commercial program they have paid to have a nice trip

The 6 Bs will be a good tool to help us meet that goal better than just the Ds

Remind the students often that they are Ambassadors, they were chosen because people believed they could fulfill that mission

Establish early strong relationships with their Counselors and host families If possible, have the families become involved with all of their host families soon into the year.

Remind them that they always have choicesChoices to live here now.minimize communication and thinking about home. Choices to change attitudes.not right or wrong, just differentChoices to say YES when possible

The 6 BsBe FirstI am a person of action!Be CuriousI seek to understand!Be on PurposeI am certain of my outcome and move steadily toward it!Be GratefulI focus on things for which I can be thankful!Be of ServiceI give of myself!Be Here NowI live in the present moment.

Structure of the Northfield Club YE

YEOInbound CounselorsOutbound Correspondent Chair (one counselor per student) (one correspondent per outbound student)

Other key people:Interview coordinatorEvents coordinatorYouth Protection Officer