Noon Rotary looks for host families

 

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The Woodstock Noon Rotary Club is looking for families interested in serving as host parents for a youth exchange student during his year-long stay in Woodstock.
This August, Celal Aslan, 18, will move from his home in Bitlis, Turkey, to stay in Woodstock for a year as part of the newest Rotary-sponsored exchange program. Host parents must live within Woodstock School District 200 boundaries, as Aslan will be attending Woodstock High School.
The Rotary has a commitment from one host family, but needs additional volunteers to host Aslan for two to four months during his stay.
“What we are hoping to find is additional families who are interested in being hosts for Celal (Aslan),” said Rotarian Joe Starzynski. “If (Woodstock residents) are interested or know someone who might be interested, (their help) would be greatly appreciated.”
The Rotary’s current exchange student, Benjamin Navarro, will be leaving for his home in France this summer. John and Karen Burns are Navarro’s host parents for the remainder of his American experience.
John Burns said he learned of the exchange program when he read about it in The Woodstock Independent last year. He said he and his wife love to meet new people, and with a 5-year-old son, the couple thought it would be a good cultural experience for the family. The Burnses also have a 1-year-old.
“My wife and I talked about it (hosting a student),” John Burns said. “We had enough room and an interest.”
Burns said Navarro has made friends at school who also live in his neighborhood, and noted that, “for the most part, it’s what I imagined having a teenager would be like.”
“We were told to treat him as if he were our son. He goes camping with us, we’ll go to the movies,” John said. “If we’re doing something, he’s along for the ride.”
That doesn’t mean John and Karen Burns are always trying to entertain Navarro, however. In fact, the Rotary Club has asked that they simply treat him like a part of the family.
Navarro has indeed made a cultural impact on the Burns family, something John Burns said has been fascinating to him and his wife.
“You get to see how the world sees us,” he said. “(Navarro) teaches us about his culture. The experience can change your perception on things.”
Laurie and Randy Wittman hosted exchange student Yeats Chen during Spring 2007. Laurie Wittman said Chen met her daughter, Katie, at Woodstock High School last school year.
“My daughter asked if we can be a host family,” she said. “I kind of went, ‘Eh, I don’t know.’ I wasn’t sure at first.”
After some debate, the Wittmans decided hosting a Chinese foreign exchange student was a chance to do something different and see the world from a different perspective. Laurie Wittman is glad she changed her mind.
The Wittmans hosted Chen from December 2006 until March 2007. During the time, Laurie Wittman said the Rotary Club was very welcoming to Chen, something that impressed her very much.
Laurie Wittman even keeps in contact with Chen through instant message on occasion, something that has made the experience that much more memorable.
For questions about being a host family, the exchange program or the Woodstock Noon Rotary Club, call Starzynski at 815-245-4954 or 815-479-6014.

This article was published in the May 7, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.