3/10/2008 - It's about more than a Fun Night
Annual AFS event helps families afford hosting foreign-exchange students
By Bob Fenske
Of The Summit
FOREST CITY - When it comes to the American Field Studies program, Julie DeVries is, in a word, impressed.
It’s part of the reason the Forest City resident is more than happy to serve on the AFS Fun Night Committee that will be busy this week as it prepares for the annual event that attracts hundreds to Forest City High School for a night of great food, fun games and plenty of prizes.
“AFS just does such a great job of screening their kids,” said DeVries, whose family is hosting Norwegian foreign-exchange student Olav Heiberg Hoff this year.
“They work really hard to get the right fit – both for the students and the families – so I think it’s a really good program.”
While DeVries is like scores of other Forest City residents who volunteer their time year in and year out to the event, she has taken on a larger role this year. For that, longtime AFS Fun Night Committee members Eunice Clouse and Karen Monson are grateful.
“We’re not going to be around forever,” Clouse said with a laugh, “and we’re always trying to get new blood involved. It’s just great that people like Julie are stepping forward.”
DeVries said she’s always loved volunteering for the event – she calls it “uniquely Forest City” – and she said it’s important that “we reach out to our community, and people always think that means hosting a student. But there’s so many other ways you can plug into AFS, like being a part of Fun Night. The old saying ‘many hands make light work’ is so true with this event.”
Fun Night has become a rite of March in Forest City, so much so that parents joke about the “Fun Night stages” they happen to be in.
There’s the walking-with-your-children stage, the letting-your-kids-walk-around-while-you-gab-in-the-lobby stage and there’s the dropping-the-kids-off-at-the-door stage.
Still, Clouse emphasizes that Fun Night is a true family affair, pointing out with a laugh that all parents and community members deserve a night off from the kitchen.
“It’s not just cotton candy,” she said. “We’ve got so much great food, it’s a shame if you don’t come out and eat dinner with us.”
Money raised from the program goes to support the local AFS program that, since its inception has brought 78 AFS students to Forest City while helping send 55 Forest City High School students abroad. The local chapter helps families with part of the expenses it takes to host a student.
This year’s AFS students include Hoff, Jannie Finnland from Norway and Mehmet Teksen Gocuyener from Turkey, and next year, Forest City High School senior Ian Bartelt hopes to study abroad as part of the AFS program.
“I can’t say enough about the experiences you get being a part of AFS,” DeVries said. “It’s just a wonderful program, and it’s always nice to see Forest City so supportive of it.”
This article was originally published here.
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