When a Johnstown family hosted a foreign exchange student from Poland, they were elated to hear him talk about his first day at Valley High School as “the best day ever.”
The student, Kai, jumped into American high school culture by joining sports teams, finding his people and excelling in Advanced Placement classes. And he will never forget the experience, nor will his host family.
Sean and Chris Black of Johnstown have found “a real joy” in opening up their home and hearts to foreign exchange students through the STS Foundation. They don’t plan to stop anytime soon, eagerly awaiting their fourth international student for the 2025-26 school year.
However, more students from around the world want to call northern Colorado their second home. To make their dreams come true, the STS Foundation seeks local families to give the hosting experience a try.
The STS Foundation, a U.S. Department of State-designated nonprofit, has provided cultural exchanges between international high school students and American families since 1986. The young students come from more than 30 different countries, including Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands.
Across the United States, the STS Foundation’s local coordinators and regional directors work to pair students with host families in every state. Diana Campbell, a local coordinator based in Windsor, works with northern Colorado families.
Currently, more than 130 foreign exchange students need an American host family before the 2025-26 school year starts, Campbell reported. So far, she has matched students with homes in Windsor, Johnstown, Longmont and Fort Collins.
This includes a student from the Netherlands who will live with the Blacks this upcoming school year. In addition to Kai, their most recent exchange student, they’ve also hosted Gina-Maria from Switzerland and Laura from Denmark.
Host family expectations
Campbell applies her own experiences with hosting to help families through the process. Before becoming a local representative of the STS Foundation, Campbell and her family hosted a student from Switzerland. Most recently, they hosted a student from Germany.
International students either come for a semester or a year-long stay, giving families options to fit their schedule. The program also allows established host families to have flexibility when they want to participate.
Sandimar and George Timberman of Aurora plan to host again after welcoming Laurent, a student from Switzerland, for a semester. But they’ll first need to take a break for personal reasons. And that’s “the beauty of the program,” Sandimar said: they can open their homes when the time is right.
Sandimar and George Timberman explored the Colorado outdoors with their foreign exchange student, Laurent of Switzerland. The couple hosted him for a semester through the STS Foundation. (Courtesy/Sandimar Timberman)Single people and married couples — with or without children — can become host homes. Those interested in bringing a student into their lives must provide room and board, have access to transportation and supply three meals each day.
To learn more about the requirements, go to stsfoundation.org/host-family-requirements.
The STS Foundation requires potential host parents to undergo an application and screening process, which includes submitting references and passing a background check. A local coordinator will also conduct a “home visit” to ensure the place is suitable.
The application process, although lengthy, guarantees a family is ready for the experience, but Campbell said many people new to the program worry about bringing a stranger into their homes, especially a teenager.
The Campbells, Timbermans and Blacks all confirmed that their host students, despite being young teenagers, have been mature, independent, intelligent and responsible people. In fact, many of the participating exchange students are scholarship recipients of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study and Future Leaders Exchange scholarships.
New host families also tend to stress about having enough money to ensure students have an exciting experience. But Campbell assures exchange students are “easy to accommodate” because they speak proficient English, have health insurance in case of emergencies and get monthly pocket money from their families.
Campbell also must check in with exchange students, their host families and their school once per month. This gives host families a person to reach out to if needed, and it gives exchange students a “second home or family” during their stay, she said.
Campbell said most international students want and expect to live as typical American high schoolers and experience the culture and traditions of their host families, like watching sports, hanging out with friends, participating in an after-school activity or visiting a restaurant.
“You don’t have to plan huge trips or anything, or spend a lot of money on things, because they are just happy to be here to go to school,” Campbell said. “They want to be a part of the family.”
Host family experiences
With that being said, many host families want their students to have opportunities to explore Colorado. Hosts have traveled with their new family members to popular destinations such as the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
The Timbermans’ ventures left an impact on Laurent, whose passion for Western and cowboy culture blossomed. Laurent pieced together —and perfected — a Western look throughout his stay to become a “Swiss cowboy,” Sandimar said.
“They don’t really have much expectation except just to share your life,” Chris added.
Host parents Chris and Sean Black pose with Gina-Maria, a foreign exchange student they welcomed from Switzerland through the STS Foundation. (Courtesy/Chris Black)All three families agreed that, most of the time, the special memories happened inside the household, like host siblings splitting chores, the whole family cooking together or watching each other’s comfort movies.
“When people go into something like this, they think they may have to spend a lot of money or entertain somebody … but in the end, it was those little everyday moments, like cooking together, watching our shows together, or just discussing life and our interests that really turned into those most meaningful moments for us,” Sandimar said. “I think sometimes we forget that there is a beauty in that simplicity as well.”
The Timbermans don’t have children of their own, but they are surrounded by a large, close-knit family, filled with nieces and nephews of all ages. Sandimar enjoyed introducing their student to family gatherings, especially since he came from a culture where children are more independent and don’t have as much family time.
For Campbell, she has introduced her family’s tradition of card games to her students. As a coach, Sean shared his love for sports with his host kids, like Gina-Maria, who joined the cheerleading and soccer team, and Kai, who played football, baseball and basketball.
Kai got off the plane and immediately declared, “I want to play football,” Sean recalled. He contacted the coach to try out for football on his first day of school, and the team welcomed him with open arms. He made lifelong friends right away and took every opportunity he could.
Sean said Kai fell in love with the contact sport and became the varsity team’s kickoff player, eventually earning Valley High School’s Special Teams Player of the Year.
Kai, a foreign exchange student from Poland who lived with host parents Chris and Sean Black, won Valley High School’s Special Teams Player of the Year. (Courtesy/Chris Black)As a host dad, George most admired talking about life with Laurent, expanding each other’s beliefs as they considered the different perspectives from their cultures.
“You can show them the wonders of your culture and they can also show you theirs,” George said.
Exchange students come eager to experience American culture and step out of their comfort zones, but they also want to put their traditions and culture on display, often through gifts or food from their country.
The Black family got a taste of their host students’ cuisine, whether they crafted a recipe together or tried Gina-Maria or Laura’s masterful cooking and baking creations.
“I was expecting to be a pseudo-parent, but I was not expecting to gain from the experience or that I would love it as much as I do,” Chris said. “The truth is, they became so much a part of our lives. They gave so much back to us.”
The end of a stay doesn’t mean goodbye. It’s typically, “See you later.”
Chris called the hosting experience “a real gift” because people go from letting a stranger into their home to developing lifelong relationships with the students, and even their families. Relationships continue after the semester or year comes to a close because American hosts often stay virtually connected to their students.
Foreign exchange students also frequently come back to visit, sometimes bringing their family along to experience their time in America. A host family will also always have a new country to visit after participating in the program, like the Campbells, who plan to take a break from hosting to travel to their former exchange students’ countries.
“It was nice to get out of the routine as far as how life kind of just drifts along,” George said. “To have somebody come in from another culture shakes you out of your lethargy, which was really nice.”
For more information on the program, view students looking for placement or to apply, go to stsfoundation.org.
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