With only a few weeks left of the NH25 cycle, this edition of the Orientation Volunteer Newsletter will focus on planning for departures of both our hosted and study abroad students. Additionally, let’s start planning for the NH26 year ahead.
This publication is for volunteers that work with AFS Orientations and is sent to all volunteers with an orientation affiliation. A copy is posted on this page in MyAFS Help & Learning. Thank you for all that you do to prepare and support AFS students, host families, and sending parents!
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Save the date for the next quarterly Orientation Volunteer National Call – June 23rd 8PM EST
Open to any volunteers involved or interested in orientations, who would like to learn, share best practices and talk about upcoming orientation events & materials.
Register Here
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Hosting
Departure Logistics Webinar
After the End of Stay Orientation, the final event for NH25 students is the Departure Logistics Webinar. Led by the Departure Coordinator and/or Travel Rep, this session prepares host families and students (Core & CB only) for departure day, including airport travel and coordination details. Follow this link for more information and materials. The Travel Dept is holding a National Call on May 20, 8pm ET for any volunteers who want to hear more about planning for the Departure Logistics Webinar call. Click this zoom link to join the call.
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End of Year Host Family Appreciation
If you haven’t already, consider having an event towards the end of the year to show appreciation to your host families. Some teams have a beach party, an ice cream social or a potluck dinner. Creating an opportunity to say thank you, share memories, and invite host families to stay engaged with your area team creates community and opportunities for the future. This guide has some good ideas for discussion and engagement activities.
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NH26 Host Family Orientations
With over 400 NH26 placements already made (woo hoo!) some teams are probably starting to think about planning their Host Family Orientation(s). Whether you try to offer one for the whole group or stagger a couple of events throughout the summer, remember to reference the materials on this HFO page and share the link for Help & Learning for Host Families so they can read up on the all the important resources we provide host families to prepare for the experience. Also, don’t forget to share your team calendar with host families now, so they have all the NH26 orientations on their calendars.
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Study Abroad
Pre-Departure Orientation
Most NH26 study abroad students have now been accepted on to their programs. Review your team’s Study Abroad section in MyAFS to see student status and start preparing for your local Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) based on their departure dates. To review materials and plan your orientation click here.
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Welcome Your Alumni Home
Many AFSers are returning this spring and summer. Check the study abroad widget under ‘Recent Returnees’ for semester students that returned earlier this year, then review program end dates in the ‘Participating’ tab: YES Students return May 30, CB students return June 16, and many core programs arrive home in June and July. Consider planning a welcome home event, encourage alumni to register as volunteers and invite them to get involved in your arrival and post arrival orientations. Alumni are our treasures, they are eager to connect, share their stories, and contribute as exchange experts!
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Volunteer Resources
NH25 Orientation Attendance
This was our first year with a new process to report attendance at orientations. Students scan a QR code and fill out a short form to register their attendance. Volunteers are now able to see the results of those submissions by accessing a shared spreadsheet that populates the form submissions daily. Please take a moment to review this Help & Learning article and the linked documents which reflect results for the attendance form and in addition, results of the evaluations filled out at the end of each orientation.
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Photo Submissions Needed
AFS Intercultural Learning and Compliance teams need your help to gather some information requested by the U.S. Department of State for our annual report. Please submit photos of NH25 hosted students participating in Intercultural Learning and Cultural team activities at orientations or other AFS events in your community. Please submit photos and include a brief description of each photo. Big thank you to those who have already submitted photos this year!
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Orientation Affiliations
As planning is underway for NH26 we would like to update your team’s orientation affiliations, so we have an accurate list of orientation leaders and helpers. Orientation Coordinators, be on the lookout for an email asking for any updates to your team’s orientation volunteer team for NH26.
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Team Calendars
Before NH26 students arrive, please update your team calendar in MyAFS for efficient communication between volunteers, host families, students, and AFS staff. Follow the instructions on this Help & Learning Page to upload your team calendar. Creating and managing the team calendar is a great task for a new volunteer or someone interested in helping the team with admin.
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We want to hear from you:
- Do you have a great idea for an orientation activity?
- Would you like to be featured in a future newsletter?
- What topics would you like us to cover in future editions?
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