School relationships are a critical element of our AFS work. No matter what your role is as an AFS volunteer, we want you to know about some great resources to help you build bridges with local schools. We are inviting all AFS volunteers to use this information and contribute to our vital hosting goal for the upcoming academic year.

Visit this new page on our website to support your conversations and interactions with your local schools. You’ll start out with a quick video from a principal who is proud to support and advocate to his School Board to reopen their doors to AFS students in the fall. Plus, you’ll find other letters of support, along with a letter from our President and CEO, Tara Hofmann, detailing our safety protocols for incoming students. You will also find a handout describing professional development that the School Outreach Department has set up for educators along with a video thanking educators for the impact that they have had on our students.

We hope you will share this page with the school leaders with whom you are working and that you save it as a reference so you can easily access these tools when you need them.

As you build relationships with your local schools that move beyond the transaction of simply asking them to host our students, you may want to explore our many resources geared toward classroom teachers in our Teacher’s Toolbox and our resources to support you in your work connecting with schools in MyAFS Help & Learning . We have quite a few new educator-focused resources in development that should be ready by the fall. I hope you will stay connected to the School Outreach Department through our Workplace group and by becoming an AFS School Representative.

Please let me know what else you might need as you reach out to schools during these summer months and solidify our AFS students’ placements. Write to me at educators@afsusa.org to tell me what your Area Team/Chapter needs are. (Success stories are always welcome too!)

Thank you for all that you do for AFS-USA. Your dedication to this great organization is very much appreciated.