Lasha, a former AYA exchange student from the Republic of Georgia, is now working to send Georgian students to the United States. He participated in Academic Year in America when he was 15 years old as a high school exchange student. Lasha shared with us his gratitude for the … [Read more...]
AYA Equals Opportunity: A Student Story
The Thompson family is from Pennsylvania and a first year AYA host family. Last year they gave their family the opportunity to become acquainted with another country and culture by hosting a young man from Hungary. They thought there was no better way then welcoming a student for … [Read more...]
A Journey of Two Host Sisters: Lea & Giulia’s Story
Lea from Germany and Giulia from Italy are two international students who spent their academic year in the Pacific Northwest with the Heath family along with their two dogs and two cats. Needless to say it was a full house for these two host sisters. Lea and Giulia shared with us … [Read more...]
Why Hosting Matters: A Host Dad’s Reflection
All our students have returned to their home countries and natural families. It's been a great year for all our AYA students and they have taken home great memories of their year in America with them. For many host families this is a time of reflection of the year past. Host … [Read more...]
Host Family of the Year 2015!
Each year Academic Year in America asks students and Local Coordinators across the U.S. to nominate host families for AYA's Host Family of the Year. We ask them to nominate their family based on hospitality, caring, dedication to cultural exchange, and overall willingness to … [Read more...]
Happy Father’s Day AYA Host Dads!
In celebration of Father's day yesterday, we want to celebrate all our wonderful AYA host dads! What makes our host dads so special is the bond they create with our exchange students, the effort they go to be there and the love they have for them. Host dad, James from Arizona … [Read more...]