Become a student ambassador by participating in one of Columbia Association’s annual Sister Cities High School Student Exchanges. Travel to Cergy-Pontoise, France or Tres Cantos, Spain. Spend two weeks in July living with a teen your age in Europe, then host the same teen here for two weeks. Immerse yourself in another culture living with a family in France or Spain, improve your French or Spanish language skills and have fun while exploring new places and connecting with international students your age!
Throughout the program, there are organized group activities for the participants, both abroad in the US. Excursions in France include trips to Paris, the Palace of Versailles, Normandy and Mont St. Michel. Excursions in Spain include trips to Madrid, Segovia, andToledo. Excursions in the U.S. include trips to Washington DC, New York City, and Ocean City. Chaperones will travel with participants to Europe, and accompany students on all excursions in Europe and in the U.S.
The program fee is $950 for Columbia residents and $1,100 for non Columbia residents, excluding airfare. Airline tickets in summer 2023 will range from $1,100 to $1,450 per participant. Applicants must be high school students residing in Howard County who have completed high school French III or Spanish III or above by the end of the current academic year (or have the equivalent language fluency).
There are excellent income-based scholarships available for those who qualify.
Teens and parents are invited to learn more about the 2023 exchange trips at one of CA’s upcoming information sessions. All sessions will be virtual on googlemeet. To register for an information session or for more information, please contact Grace Change at (410) 715-3178 or Grace.Chang@ColumbiaAssociation.org.
- Wednesday, December 14 – 7:00pm
- Thursday, January 5 – 7:00pm
- Tuesday, January 24 – 7:00pm
- Saturday, January 28 – 10:00am
- Monday, February 6 – 7:00pm
- Thursday, February 16 – 7:00pm
Application deadline: February 28, 2023
For more information or to receive a copy of the Program Overview and Requirements, contact Program Manager, Grace Chang at (410) 715-3178 or Grace.Chang@ColumbiaAssociation.org.
Apply now for Cergy-Pontoise, France
Apply now for Tres Cantos, Spain
Summer Exchange Chaperones
Columbia Association is accepting applications for volunteer chaperones for its summer 2023 Sister Cities High School Exchange. Adults over age 21 who speak fluent Spanish or French (as well as English) accompany each group of students to France or Spain. This is a month-long program. Chaperones will travel with students to France/Spain in the first two weeks of July. The second half of the program will be in the U.S. chaperoning Howard County students and French/Spanish students who return with the Howard County students. Chaperones attend, supervise and participate in all organized group activities and excursions, both abroad in and in the U.S. Travel expenses covered include airfare, and homestays with meals for the two weeks in Europe are provided by their counterpart chaperones in France or Spain. U.S. chaperones in turn must provide homestay and meals to their French or Spanish chaperone counterparts for the two weeks during the second half of the program in the U.S.
Please contact Grace Chang at (410)715-3178 or Grace.Chang@ColumbiaAssocation.org for more information.