‘Part of the family’

Kathy Chambers shares the joy of hosting foreign exchange students through Sandpoint Rotary

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

After hosting foreign exchange students in her Sandpoint home over the years, Kathy Chambers now hopes to inspire other locals to open their doors to the program that has positively impacted her family’s life.

Chambers got involved with hosting foreign exchange students after a friend introduced her to it.

“A friend of ours, Merry Brown-Hayes, asked us if we were interested,” Chambers told the Reader. “She was looking for people in the area who could be host families. Our kids had just left the house so we had two extra bedrooms, so we said, ‘Sure, that sounds fun.’”

What started as a one-off hosting experience turned into a regular gig. The student currently staying at the Chambers’ house is their 11th.

However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s noticed the number of local host families have declined, so Chambers is eager to inspire others to open their homes to the students.

“I think COVID kind of killed a lot of people wanting to have anybody in their homes,” she said. “It killed a lot of programs, good volunteer programs, but you know, we can’t live in that fear bubble forever.”

Chambers said she’s tried hosting with other organizations before, but landed on the Sandpoint Rotary program because of how much support the club gives.

“We found the Rotary program is just so superior to the others,” she said.

Not only does Rotary provide a financial stipend to students every month to cover incidentals, but each student has their own Rotarian who acts as a counselor.

“The family also has a counselor and there’s great training involved,” she said. “They basically have a team of people for support. With other programs, the representative was in Spokane and we kind of felt like the kids were just dropped off and that was kind of it. So we really like the Rotary program, mostly because of all the aid and support.”

Also, unlike other programs, the Rotary exchange doesn’t require a family to house the child all year long. Instead, students are encouraged to switch homes every three or six months, which helps broaden their experiences — from living with a large family in town for a few months to a childless couple living in the country for a few more.

Chambers enjoyed the Rotary program so much, she now serves on a committee that helps expand the program to connect more students with local host families. 

Over the years, the Chambers family has hosted kids from Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Italy, Chile and currently a student from Brazil.

“The connection you make with these kids is, many times, life long,” she said. “You basically assimilate them right into your family and you do everything with them that you would do with your own kids. They become part of the family.”

Host families are responsible for feeding exchange students, ensuring they make it to school and do their homework, along with helping them with any social issues they might encounter.

“You get to have a bit of an investment in their lives,” she said. “We have had a couple of our students become doctors and a couple of lawyers. You feel like you are as proud of them as you are with your own kids.”

Along with providing foreign exchange students with exposure to living in the U.S., Chambers said her family also learned a lot from the students they hosted.

“You learn some pretty funny things about your own country from the students,” she said.

One student came home after the third or fourth day of school and asked about a peculiar practice she was seeing in class when a person would come over the intercom and students would all stand and recite words with their hands over their hearts.

“I told her, ‘Oh, that’s the Pledge of Allegiance, we’ve done that since kindergarten,’” Chambers said. “Our Austrian girl said, ‘Oh my God, that’s so patriotic. We don’t pledge anything in Austria anymore.’”

Another aspect of American schools that Chambers notices her students have enjoyed are the elective classes.

“They absolutely love taking the electives,” Chambers said. “They don’t have electives in most countries, so they don’t get to take art or music or guitar, you know? They think that is just the coolest thing ever. Also, the girls all want to be cheerleaders because that’s something that doesn’t really exist outside of the U.S.”

The biggest challenge, Chambers said, is typical of raising any teenager: engaging them in life outside of their phones.

“At our house, you’ve got to do something,” she said. “I don’t care what it is. It could be a sport, a club, going skiing or ice skating. You’re not just gonna sit home all day on your phone.”

Those interested in hosting exchange students through the Rotary program can fill out an application to start the ball rolling. Rotary will conduct an interview, schedule a home visit and provide online training, along with performing background checks to ensure the students are placed in a safe home for their time in the country.

Better yet, Chambers said she’d be happy to answer any questions from interested local families, as well as get the application process rolling for them. Email [email protected] with any questions.