Aspect Foundation students around the country put their hearts into celebrating International Education Week this year. They taught others about their home culture and traditions, met new friends and community leaders, and above all, celebrated the importance of exchange experiences. They collected events and experiences during an Aspect Foundation “Scavenger Hunt” and with cameras, computers, presentations and spatulas, our students spent the month of November serving as special ambassadors for international education in their American communities.

34 students participated

15 countries represented

55+ traditional meals shared with host families and communities

40 in-class presentations

39 potential new blog posts written

18 videos for promoting study abroad

5 letters to the editor published

I would like to thank your students for coming to my class Monday, November 17 and giving outstanding presentations. We so enjoyed learning about different cultures, educational systems, economies, geography and food!  The students were prepared, friendly and very receptive to our questions about their countries.  I wish all of our students had the opportunity to travel and live abroad as these students are doing.  It is an enriching experience on all sides!  Italy, Brazil, Finland and Spain should be proud! I hope we can do this again next year. Thank you!                             — Teacher in Arkansas

Some excellent videographers came out of the woodwork during IEW, filming their friends and classmates doing everything from learn a new language to talking about why they decided to host an exchange student.

Why should families host an exchange student? — Diana from Russia

Study abroad in Italy! — Carol from Italy

Teaching friends Portuguese — Victor from Brazil

“I also wanted to thank you because I really enjoy my exchange year and I think choosing Aspect Foundation in the U.S. as my program was the right decision. It is nice that you do challenges like the Scavenger Hunt because we can not lose anything, we can only gain positive experiences. I would have never done the commercial without the Scavenger Hunt and now I really like watching it and I realize that it is something I have forever!”                                                                     — Johanna from Germany

Thank you to all of our students who made IEW a huge success this year! We were very honored to participate. International Education Week is a joint initiative by the Department of Education and Department of State to celebrate the benefits of cultural exchanges and education worldwide.