Travel Disclaimer: Should one decide to leave one's current and comfortable life, in pursuit of something unknown, and specifically (in this case) in foreign lands for variable amounts of time—it should be warned than any of the following may result, and that such effects are the full responsibility of the person, and that the world may not be held liable for these consequences. —Christina Rivera, Where There Be Dragons
Summer study and work in foreign countries are always eye-opening, especially for teenagers who have stayed mostly close to home. Often, these experiences are life changing. For high school students looking to spend summer abroad the options abound: home stays, language classes, volunteer work, internships, student exchanges, rugged adventures. Scholarships are often available.
WKCD has compiled a directory of international summer programs that welcome high school students. Some are well known and have been around for decades. Others are much newer and promise experiences off the beaten path.
Study Abroad Programs
Off the Beaten Path
Language Immersion Programs
Academic Treks
www.academictreks.com/default.asp
Academic Treks offers three-week programs throughout the summer that focus on marine and environmental science. High school students can study topics like sea turtle habitats in Costa Rica or how volcanoes impact ecology on the Hawaiian Islands. No previous language training is necessary.
American Field Services (AFS)
www.usa.afs.org/
With 55 years of experience and programs in over 100 countries, AFS is one of the largest international exchange organizations for American teens. AFS hosts summer abroad programs for high school students around the globe that combine community service and language immersion. Students can chose to live on a university campus or opt for a summer home stay.
AYUSA
www.ayusa.org/
AYUSA offers four-week summer home stay programs for youth aged 15-19 in nine countries. Combining intensive language classes, weekend excursions, and cultural classes—like traditional art, dance, and cooking—students can enjoy a diverse summer experience in a short time. The website provides comprehensive information on AYUSA programs in Latin America (Costa Rica and Brazil), Europe (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), Africa (Tunisia), and Asia (Japan and Lebanon).
CIEE: Global Service and Language Projects (GSLP)
http://us.councilexchanges.org/opportunities/usa_hs/index_gsp.html
Hoping to broaden students' understanding of the planet and its needs, GSLP conducts three- and four-week community service programs in six countries (Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Guadeloupe, Peru, and Quebec). Students split their time between service work, with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, and cultural immersion in a home stay. No previous language skills are required.
Edu-culture International
www.educulture.org
Edu-culture International (ECI) is a non-profit educational organization that specializes in summer study abroad and exchange programs for high school students, all of which are based in youthful and safe locations, with the choice of staying with host families or in university-style dormitories. In some instances, students can earn university credit through their summer studies.
The Experiment in International Living (EIL)
www.usexperiment.org/
Now in over 25 countries, EIL has given high school students the opportunity to learn another culture first-hand for over 70 years. Programs range from doing community service in Turkey, to learning the finer points of French cooking in Paris, to studying ecology in Botswana. Depending on the level of immersion, some programs require previous language training.
Global Routes
www.globalroutes.org/student-exchange-programs.html
Global Routes provides overseas volunteer opportunities for high school students. Most programs are located in Latin America, but Global Routes also sends students to work on community service projects in countries like Thailand and India. The program includes three-week home stays, usually in rural villages.
High School Programs Abroad
www.highschoolprogramsabroad.com/search.cfm
This searchable index of thousands of abroad programs for high school students is a great resource. Programs are sorted by country, focus, duration, and language, making it easy to match interests with programs. The website also showcases opportunities, updated weekly, which show students parts of the world they'd likely never considered before.
Knowledge Exchange Institution (KEI)
www.keiabroad.org/
The KEI offers unique summer internships for high school student and recent graduates that specialize in business and law, public health care, or the visual arts. KEI offers college credit with many of their abroad courses. On their website, use the drop-down menu to narrow the program list to pre-college or high school options.
Program of Academic Exchange (PAX)
www.pax.org/paxabroad.html
PAX specializes in programs for high school students with two foci: culture-immersion (“Summer Adventure”) and language-immersion (“Language Adventure”). Programs are located in Australia, Brazil, China, Ecuador, and Spain. Students enjoy a home stay with a local family and weekend excursions.
AMIGOS
www.amigoslink.org
AMIGOS trains young people to meet the challenges of planning and conducting community service programs with confidence and cultural sensitivity, both in their home communities and in Latin America. Training includes topics such as Spanish/Portuguese, community assessment approaches, interpersonal communication, Latin American history and culture, medical self-care, and technical training about specific sustainable development programs.
Teams of 2-3 volunteers live and work in rural Latin American communities for up to eight weeks. Working in collaboration with development agencies and community members, volunteers have leadership roles in carrying out health, education, and environmental programs, ranging from latrine construction to formation of youth groups to teaching HIV prevention and dental hygiene.
Cross Cultural Solutions
www.crossculturalsolutions.org/Default.aspx?page=About_You.Teens
While geared towards volunteers of all ages, Cross Cultural Solutions also offers short-term international internships and volunteer experiences for teenagers, whether traveling independently, with their families, or with a school group. It runs programs in 10 countries: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Peru, Russia, Tanzania and Thailand. Volunteer placements include work with infants and young children, other teenagers, adults, the elderly, and with people who have special needs like HIV/AIDS patients or who are mentally or physically disabled.
Seeds of Learning
www.seedsoflearning.org/
Seeds of Learning works with North Americans and Central Americans to build and equip schools in Nicaragua and El Salvador, educate children and adults, and promote cross cultural understanding. Each year, it sends ten to twelve work groups of young volunteers to Central America for 7 to 14 days. While there, volunteers partner with communities, form relationships, build bridges and explore each others' cultures while erecting or improving a school building.
Summer Search
www.summersearch.org/
Founded in 1990 by a California mother and counselor of adolescents, Summer Search builds character, leadership, and resilience in kids who want to succeed and make positive contributions but who have faced unusual hardship and adult responsibilities at an early age. Nominated by their teachers, guidance counselors, and other youth workers, selected students receive a unique combination of access to challenging summer programs and individualized, year-round mentoring throughout high school and college.
Summer Search currently works with 600 students a year in San Francisco, Boston, Napa-Sonoma, New York City, and Seattle. While many of the summer experiences it offers students are in the U.S., others are international.
VISIONS
www.visionsserviceadventures.com/
VISIONS programs blend hands-on hard work, intercultural living and learning, and adventurous exploration in the Caribbean, North/South America, and Australia. Participants experience the joys of working with friends toward a common goal and sharing the satisfaction of a job well done; they leave more certain of what they can do and more informed about the world in which they live.
Where There Be Dragons
www.wheretherebedragons.com/
From the Mongolian steppe to the Gobi Desert, the Tibetan Plateau to the peaks of Nepal, from the jagged ridges of the Andes to the lush forests of the Amazon, from the aqua seas of Thailand to the karst limestone forests of Vietnam, Where There Be Dragons offers intimate, yet rugged programs that introduce the beauty and challenges of life in Asia and Latin America. Participants make honest and rewarding connections with local communities through home-stays, service work, internships and meetings with respected leaders, artists, philosophers, and experts on the issues facing developing countries.
American Youth Abroad (AYA)
www.academicyear.org/outbound/summer/index.asp
AYA offers high school students summer language immersion programs in four countries: Austria, Chile, France, and Spain. Programs range in length from two to six weeks and give students of all language levels the chance to study a foreign language in an immersion setting and experience local cultural traditions.
Learning Programs International (LPI)
www.lpiabroad.com/
LPI hosts a variety of Spanish language immersion programs in several countries. Offering both the traditional month-long immersions as well as two-week programs, LPI tailors its study abroad options to meet a diversity of high school students' schedules. A new LPI French program is also available in Menton, on the French Riviera.
The Learning Traveler
www.learningtraveller.com/junior.asp
With campuses in France, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, and Germany, the Learning Traveler hosts language immersion programs for students and adults of all ages. The Junior Programs—targeting teenagers—are month-long language classes either in the immersion-style setting or as day programs that allow students to spend nights with their vacationing families.
Andeo International Homestays
www.andeo.org/
Andeo International Homestays offers two- and four-week immersion programs in France, Spain, Costa Rica, and Japan. High school students enjoy language classes, a local home stay, and full-day excursions. At least one year of language is required for admission, though two years of language opens the door for a more rigorous study experience.
