In this article, all volunteers can access the routine communication provided to the School Outreach Volunteers. This newsletter shares opportunities for volunteers to enhance their skills in working with schools as well as tips, tricks, and resources that can be sent directly to any educator/school regardless of a volunteer’s role with AFS. We hope you find this information helpful as we know many volunteers interact with schools so knowing how to set AFS apart from other organizations will continue to be important in those interactions.
2024 April
School Outreach Coordinators & AFS School Representatives – The school year may be nearing its end, but there’s still a lot we can share with schools!
Here’s what you’ll find in this edition:
- Email templates and opportunities for a grant-funded virtual exchange opportunity, a student scholarship opportunity related to STEM, information about the U.S. Department of State Medallion Program AND a thank you template to share with schools after a Placement Acceptance Form (PAF) is signed!
- 2 ways to connect with AFS-USA staff to help you with your school relationship-building (or relationship maintenance)
- 2 resources to connect with schools that are NEW to AFS
- Details about communications that have recently been sent or will soon be sent to schools so you can follow-up with yours if the information applies to you!
OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE WITH SCHOOLS
AFS Global STEM Accelerators – Student Scholarship
Intended Audience: High School Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers to pass along to their female students
AFS Global Up Americas – Virtual Exchange
Intended Audience: High School classrooms only. Perfect for Spanish, Social Studies, Global Studies, Theory of Knowledge, and many other classrooms.
Thank you for Accepting an AFS Student
Intended Audience: Placement Acceptance Form (PAF) Signers
U.S. Department of State Medallion Member Schools Program
Intended Audience: School Administrators, PAF Signers, District Communications Director, etc…
GET HELP FROM SCHOOL OUTREACH STAFF
You have 2 new opportunities to get personalized assistance from AFS-USA School Outreach Staff and Advisory Group members to help you boost your relationships with local schools BEFORE that hosting ask or school contact!
- Supporting Hosting with Strong School Relationships - Join us the 2nd Monday of any month in 2024 to take away 3 concrete ideas to use in conversations or emails with schools. The next opportunity is Monday, April 8th at 7:00pm Eastern / 4:00pm Pacific time. Register in advance. Special benefit to those who attend in person! Registration is required.
- Office Hours for School Outreach - AFS-USA has Office Hours. Bring any/all questions or weird scenarios you have and get personalized help on Mondays at 4:00pm Eastern / 1:00pm Pacific time every week. Register at least an hour in advance!
CONNECTING WITH *NEW* SCHOOLS TO AFS
- Best Practices Webinars - Back again this year are webinars intended for school staff members who are new to navigating the enrollment of AFS exchange students. This could be a staff member that is new to their role, a school that has never had an AFS student, a school that hasn’t hosted AFSers for many years, or just someone who inherited the role and wants to learn some ideas to do it better. Two webinars are already set up: April 16th and May 14th. School Staff Members must register in advance, but can select either date. More dates may be added if we hear from schools or volunteers that these have been helpful.
- Recognition for 1st Year Hosting Schools or Schools that Haven’t Hosted for Years – For the 2nd year in a row, we have certificates available for any AFS volunteer to share with the staff members of a school that is hosting an AFS student for the first time or the first time in many years. Here is the Canva template that you can edit with your name and the school’s name. Here is the email template that you can use to send the certificate to them.
RECENT & UPCOMING SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS
To assist you in recognizing and communicating with your local schools, we want to make sure you are aware of both recent and upcoming communications that AFS schools are receiving.
- The next AFS Global Educator Newsletter will be sent in the first half of April. Check out the AFS-USA website, MyAFS News, or the School Outreach Group on Workplace to know when it has been sent. A notification will appear in all of those channels.
- U.S. Department of State Medallion Member School Certificates are being mailed to sponsored programs students the week of April 8, 2024. Students, Host Families, Liaisons, School Reps, and Team Chairs will receive an email about this with more details.
Did you know…?
- The 2024 AFS-USA Global School of the Year is Hingham High School from Massachusetts. The 2024 Global School of the Year Finalist is Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Connecticut.
- The 2024 AFS-USA Global Educator of the Year is Elizabeth Chapman from Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. The 2024 Global Educator of the Year Finalist is Jessica Pendl-Cowan from Chautauqua Lake High School in Western New York.
- Join our School Outreach Workplace Group to learn more about them and to hear the amazing acceptance remarks from the Hingham High School Principal. Start thinking about who you will nominate in August to represent AFS-USA in 2025!
As always, thank you for all that you do! We hope you know just how much we appreciate you for all of the amazing things that you do and for the passion that you have for AFS. Thank you!
Let us know how we can help and support you!
Jill Woerner, Sarah Radermacher, Evelyn Jackson, Cynthia Iliff, & Micki Barreto