WE SAY GOODBYE TO THREE CIEE STUDENTS

Three area CIEE students, all of whom arrived in January, left the program in December.  They're all great kids and we will miss them very much!

     Juneseong from South Korea

    (hosted by the Powers Family)

             Lucas from Brazil

     (hosted by the White Family)

       Harry from South Korea

 (hosted by the Pickard Family)

CIEE CHRISTMAS PARTY!!

Tracy and Keith Roberts, Min Jeong's host parents, had the CIEE Christmas party at their lovely home.  Each student brought a dish from their home country to share and everything was delicious!  Everyone enjoyed getting together with their friends, wonderful food, foosball,  a spirited game of Dirty Santa and playing outdoors in the Roberts huge backyard on an unseasonbly warm December afternoon.

The spread!!!

Students pose in backyard

Deborah Neel organizes a rousing game of Dirty Santa

The kids really get into it

A group of students visit at the dining room table

COMMUNITY SERVICE AT CHRISTMAS CHARITIES YEARROUND!!

On the evening of November 27, a group of CIEE students, host parents and Local Coordinators spent several hours sorting non-perishable food items for Christmas Charities Yearround which would be delivered to area needy families so that they could have a hearty Christmas dinner.  Together, our group sorted 2,617 items!

Since I forgot my camera, here's a picture of last year's volunteers

CIEE INTERNATIONAL MEETING

In November, area LCs Cheri Mulkey and Jim and Mary Powers attended the CIEE International Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, a training session offered annually for qualified Local Coordinators held in a different international city each year. More that 160 LCs from all over the US, all of whom placed at least 5 students, attended this year's meeting. CIEE sponsors approximately 1400 high school students from over 55 different counties each year.

Jim and Mary with sweeping view of Lisbon in background

Jim and Mary at entrance to narrow medieval Lisbon street

STUDENTS FROM OTHER AREAS COME TO HUNTSVILLE!!

Almost 60 CIEE students from Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia joined us in Huntsville in October for a weekend of exploration of our area.  We visted the US Space & Rocket Center, historic downtown Huntsville, and beautiful Cathedral Caverns.  We also had time for shopping, dining and fun at one of the local malls.

Students at US Space & Rocket Center

Students in front of Pre-Civil War church in downtown Huntsville

Huntsville area students at mouth of Cathedral Caverns,

thought to be the largest entrance to a public cave in the world

ATLANTA TRIP A LOT OF FUN!!

Six exchange student, two host sibs and three chaperones had a great time in Atlanta in September.  We visited Six Flags, the World of Coca Cola and the CNN World Headquarters. 

Ready for some fun!  Zhen's host brother Darius, Zhen, Shiyuan, Jialin, Victoria, Luisa, Shara and Jialin's host sister Sydnee pose in front of the mini-van just before we departed.

Six Flags Over Georgia

Everyone enjoyed the hotel pool

The World of Coca Cola

CNN World Headquarters

WELCOME POOL PARTY A BIG SUCCESS!!

Second year host mom Deborah Neel who is hosting two students this year, Mayom from Thailand and Shara from Germany, had the CIEE welcome party for at her lovely farm in southern Tennessee for the second year.  Everyone enoyed one another's company, a refreshing dip in the pool and visiting the farm animals!

We had a great turn out (here everyone poses for a group photo)

A few students enjoy the pool before we eat

Lisa (left), Deborah's student from 2011/12 who is attending UAH this year,

joined the fun (here she and Mayom, one of the students Deborah is hosting this year,

 are enjoying watching everyone have fun in the pool)

Everyone was getting hungry so Kieth and Jim grill some hamburgers and hot dogs

Everyone brought food to share and the serving table was very impressive

 Mary shows our grandson Hank the farm animals (afterall we are on a farm!)

Hank contemplates pulling Gama's earing but he's too sweet

THIS YEAR'S STUDENTS HAVE ARRIVED!!

We have another great group of students in our area this year!  Here are a few of them as they are greated at the airport by their host families. This year's CIEE family consists of 17 exchange students from 7 countries (Brazil, China, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand) and some truly awesome host families.

The Jones Family welcomes Jialin from China

The Roberts Family welcomes Min Jeong from South Korea

(Min Jeong is a returning student)

The Parker Family welcomes Zhen from China

Local Coordinator and host brother Cody welcome German (center) from Spain

The Owen Family welcomes Victoria from Brazil

The Neel Family welcomes Mayom (left) from Thailand and Shara (right) from Germany

The Lueders Family welcomes Shiyuan from China

The Moore Family welcomes Luisa from Germany

Saying Good-Bye!

Ulrich, Norina, Paula at the airport ready for their long journey home. This year's group of students was truly awesome and we will miss each of them very much!

Farewell Party at the Lake

We had a great turn out for our farewell party held at Allison and David Harwell's lake house.  The kids had a blast swimming, boating and inner tubing.

CIEE and Department of State Visits Area Families

Over the last couple of weeks, the Department of State and CIEE have been in the area to make sure our students are safe!  This has been stressful for everyone involved ..... schools, Local Coordinators and host families alike.  Here is a photo of the Winn family during a recent site visit from CIEE representative Ben O'Connell.  You can see the worry in the eyes of everyone involved.!

GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY

On April 26, nine area students participated in an activity focusing on how government works in the United States, both at the federal and local levels.  We started out with a meeting at Congressman Mo Brooks' Huntsville office where we met with members of his staff.  Next we went to the office of the Mayor of the city of Huntsville to meet with a member of his staff.  At both offices, staff gave us an overview of their boss' job and answered a number of excellent questions posed by the students. Finally, we attended a Huntsville City Council meeting where the local CIEE students were recognized in an official resolution.

Each student received a certificate signed by the

Mayor and member of the City Council

Juneseong who aspires to be a politician sits at the Mayor's desk

Students pose with the Mayor and Council members in the Council Chambers

MEMPHIS TRIP

Jim, Mary, and ten Huntsville area students left after school on Friday for the weekend of April 14 and 15 in Memphis.  Yvonne Alldaffer, an LC from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, joined us there with four of her students and we all had an awesome time together!  In Memphis we went to Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum, Beale Street, the Peabody Hotel, and the Memphis Zoo.  We also attended an NBA game, the Memphis Grizzlies vs. the Utah Jazz. We stayed a really nice downtown hotel within walking distance to most everything!

HERE WE ARE AT GRACELAND

  

HERE WE ARE IN THE HOTEL LOBBY

HERE WE ARE JUST BEFORE THE NBA GAME

AFTER THE GAME NORINA AND PAULA POSED WITH A PLAYER

OUR LAST STOP, THE MEMPHIS ZOO

CHATTANOOGA TRIP

On March 17, we spent the day in Chattanooga with the Chattanooga Cluster.  Nine students and three LCs from our cluster attended.  First we went on a relaxing riverboat cruise on the Tennessee River and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  The world renowned Tennessee Aquarium was next on the agenda. By the time we'd finished touring the massive aquarium, it was time for dinner and everyone was free to choose from the wide variety of Chattanooga's downtown restaurants.  After dinner we had time to explore downtown and take a stroll across the Tennessee River on the Chattanooga's walking bridge where we hooked up with a group of Christian musicians.

 Huntsville Area Students in front of Southern Belle

Students from Chattanooga and Huntsville pose for a photo

Annie and Jessica enjoy the Tennessee Aquarium

Students prepare to touch the river rays in the hands-on area of the aquarium

Jessica and Annie with a Chattanooga friend in the shark cage

The day winds down as the students enjoy the music of a group of young Christian musicians on Chattanooga's walking bridge

The musicians pose with the students just before we head home