Connecting Lives, Sharing Cultures

NEWSLETTERGreater Cleveland West

Winter 2016

Mid-Year Orientation •••

Thank you to the students and volunteers

On January 9 and 10, the Greater Cleveland AFS students and volunteers gathered together at the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Center for the mid-year orientation. With forty students, it was one of the larger orientation groups. The students’ interaction allowed them to share their experiences from the first half of their year and promoted a great learning experience. The weekend was spent working through exercises to reflect upon the students’ adjustment to the American culture and their host families, review their goals for the year, and plan for the remainder of the year abroad. At the orientation, students were able to see the growth from their efforts. Students talked and played games late into the night, but slept long enough to make it through Sunday morning.Westside volunteers who helped to make the or ientat ion a success inc lude Minna Mortensen, Sherry and Dave Dial, Dave and Cindy Millen, Tina Kenney, Catherine and Clara Mey, Sue Johansen, and Dennis Driscoll. Chris Kowalski from the eastside did a great job in assisting with organizing the mid-year orientation, along with the eastside volunteers, Lee Larson, Adrienne and Lenny Yelsky, Carolyn and John Pavel, and Justin Sweigart.A big thank you to the students and volunteers who made the mid-year orientation a great experience!

What is Law Day? You should have received an email from Joel Sacco regarding Law Day on Thursday February 18th.  This is a required event for all AFS students in the GCA.  Law Day is considered by many students to be one of the most interest ing, fun and educational days of your AFS experience. Please be sure to RSVP to Joel Sacco.You will need to make arrangements at your school to have an excused day off since this is a required AFS event, you can show them the letter from Joel, if need be.Also try to carpool with students that live near you and ask your liaison if your family cannot take you. If you still need help with arranging to get there, contact Minna Mortensen 440-734-3905 or minna98@juno.com

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Greater Cleveland West Winter 2016

Monthly Meetings Everyone Welcome

Everyone is welcome to attend the monthly meeting at Berea-Midpark High School in which we have various students talk about their home countries. They are usually the second Tuesday of the month in the Titan room which is on the second floor.  Upcoming meetings are:

Tuesday, February 9 at 6:30 will be a Potluck in the Cafeteria at Berea-Midpark High School followed by a panel of AFS returnees who went abroad more than 5 years ago. They will share how their exchange experiences influenced their lives. Some of the countries they lived in are:  Australia, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, Iran, Portugal, Tunisia, Venezuela. It will be interesting and informational for all and especially for any students considering going on an exchange. The public is invited to both events or welcome to just attend the panel discussion.

Tuesday, March 8 Berea-Midpark AFSer, Chris Lee of Hong Kong will be the speaker at the monthly meeting in the Titan Room at 7:30 pm.

Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 in the Berea-Midpark Titan Room. The speaker will be Molly Boult from New Zealand.

Tuesday, May 10: at 7:30 in the Berea-Midpark Titan Room.

Upcoming Events February 18: Law Day - Students will meet at the old courthouse in downtown Cleveland (1 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113) at 8:45 AM. Students are encouraged to carpool. Pickup is at 3:45.

Sunday, March 13: Maple Sugaring - One of the early signs of Spring in Northern Ohio is steam from the Maple Sugar houses in the woods. Bundle up and come join us for a couple hours of adventure and fun. Very few places in the world can produce maple sugar – one of nature’s sweetest treats. So plan to take a break from the indoors and enjoy this sweet taste of spring.

Place: Lagoon Picnic Shelter – Valley View Parkway in the Rocky River Reservation (not Maple Grove Picnic Area) Time: 1-3:30 pm

We will gather by the fire, hike to the sugar bush for a tour and if the weather cooperates, return to cook pancakes to eat with real maple syrup. RSVP your attendance to Ted Dreyer at teddreyer@gmail.com or 440-622-3440.

April 28 to May 2, 2016: NY and DC Trip - This trip is a wonderful experience for AFS students, host siblings and friends to learn about our country, be together and share a crazy experience for several days.

April: We will be doing an Earth Day event in April. Please stay tuned for more information.

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Looking Ahead Host Families & Exchange Students

Have you thought of a family or two who might make a good host family for the next school year? We need the help of everyone to find some good candidates. The sooner families choose the student they'd like to host, the better they can get acquainted before the students arrive in August.  

Please give the names of any prospects to Nancy Goette by phone (440/234-3821) or email (nagoette@yahoo.com) or feel free to give her contact info to the family. Any help is very much appreciated!

Tri-Fold Posterboard Did you get a trifold posterboard

at Midyear Orientation?

Hopefully you have read the directions on the back of the board and have started to think about how you can show and tell people about your country.If you did NOT get a board, please let me know and we will arrange for you to get one.These boards will be used at an event called Earthfest which is held on Sunday April 17th.  I will be sending more details later.  But you need to mark that day on your calendar since it is required that you attend.    You will spend only one hour at a table at the event where we will have 2-3 students at a time displaying their board and telling people passing by about your

country.  This will hopefully inspire them to visit your country or host a student like you.We also want to inspire high school students to go abroad with AFS.  So you will be helping AFS as well as being an Ambassador for your country.Any questions contact Minna Mortensen  440-734-3905 or minna98@juno.com

Sympathies Our sympathies to the Ted Macosko family on the death of his mother Mary Jeanne who passed away on January 25th. Mary Jeanne was a founding member of the Berea Chaper of AFS.

Our sympathies  to the Tony and Katie Ganzer family on the death of Tony's father in December. Katie is an AFS returnee, who lives in Rocky River and is one of our new volunteers.

January 4 - Mandi Horttanainen (17)January 12 - Pablo De La Cruz Gonzalez (16)January 24 - Vincent Chung (17)February 20 - Omsin Arun (17)February 24 - Chris Lee (17)March 14 - Annalisa Delana (18)April 16 - Anna Thuesen (17)April 24 - Fenja Eckardt (16)

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Mid Winter Birthdays

Greater Cleveland West Winter 2016

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Travel Reminder Student traveling with their host families for vacations, social, family gatherings have just a few simple guidelines. School based travel such as an organized school group going to Disney (band, choir) does not require any additional permission. Please notify me of the itinerary and contact information while traveling. Travel outside the United States requires the US Department of State form DS 2019 to be val idated by the host ing organization. This is done by mailing the original form to Mr. Timothy Riveri AFS Participant Support Specialist, 120 Wall St. 4th Floor, New York, NY 1005. It will be signed and returned to you. This form should always be with the hosted participants pass port. Please allow enough time for turn around. Even if you think it is just a possibility at some point it is good to have this done. If you are planning travel to Canada or Mexico for example you should also request a notarized form from the natural parents which specifically states the minor child is permitted to travel with you. Your student may require an additional VISA to travel to your destination country. You may find this out via the internet on their home country and destination countries websites. If required, follow those instructions. Natural families must give written permission to AFS for their child to travel to another country outside the United States. Finally please tell me when, where and how to reach you when traveling outside our area. We need to be able to reach you/your student in case of an emergency.

Jon Karl - Area Team Support Coordinator

AFS Mission Statement AFS-US works toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership.

Greater Cleveland West Winter 2016

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Student News…

Cherry with herhigh school bowling team

This Holiday, Dao Sin

gmanas was a jet-

setter... after wrap

ping up the winter

concert season, she t

ook trips with the

Rohrs to Cancun Mexic

o for Thanksgiving an

d

then hit the Big Apple

- New York City- righ

t

before Christmas! Sh

e took in a magic show

,

saw the Rockettes, wa

lked through Central

Park and even saw a Br

oadway musical!

January didn't slow d

own one bit as she

joined the Jazz works

hop and the Pep band

playing the alto saxo

phone. Next month

she'll be working Cre

w on a production of

Fiddler On the Roof a

t Old Town Hall

Theater, when her hos

t mom and sibling tak

e

the stage. WHEW!

Alyssa, Clara & Cherrybaking cookies

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Chris Lee has been to Amish country a

couple times including the Amish

Country dinner in the fall and got to

ride in a horse-drawn buggy.  He went

to a Browns pre-season game early in

the Fall.  Chris traveled to Disney

and Epcot Center right before

Christmas with Vincent, Kerwin and

Vincent's host mom.  After lots of

family time for Christmas, he and his

host family went to see The

Transiberian Orchestra.  He is also

going to a Cavs game tonight and is

looking forward to joining the tennis

team in the Spring.Chris Lee, Kerwin Xie and Vincent Chung withhost mother Margaret Young went to Orlandoin December. They went to Kennedy SpaceCenter (we hoped we would see the space launch that was scheduled Sat, changed toSunday and finally went off on Monday.) Unfortunately they did not have time to waitfor the 3rd day and went to Disney and Universal Studios. Kerwin lost his wallet atUniversal Studios.  Fortunately, an honestworker turned it in to lost and found. Flying domestically using their Chinese passport was NOT a problem. The Marriott Hotel had a heated pool and hot tub.  The boys had a great time swimming and hangingout.  

Omsin on a trip to Los Angeles, CA

Pablo, Mike and Chris at a HarlemGlobetrottersgame…

Bill, Ricardo,

Wade and Keiko

Honza kayakingon a trip toFlorida

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Honza at a Cavs game high-fiving the players coming onto the court…

Christmas Potluck

Anna went to Detroit, Michigan to the highest Hotel and the Henry Ford Museum with her host sister Lily and her host parents. She sent many pictures from Christmas, the AFS Christmas party, the AFS Mid-year Orientation, a Cleveland day with her host parents and host sister, her choir's holiday concert, the AFS day in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chinese restaurant and Westside market, pictures from tobogganing with her host parents and host sister, the winter formal at our school and a picture with her basketball team. We have included several of them here…

Lewin and Laco

family…

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