FARMINGTON — Mt. Blue High School Teacher Lisa Dalrymple, along with Principal Monique Poulin, gave a presentation to the Regional School Unit 9 Board of Directors over the progress of their International Student Program on Tuesday, Jan 24.

Initially concerned over the startup cost, RSU 9 Board of Directors approved the program in March of 2014 to a mixed vote.

Officially starting in 2015, the program has seen students from Thailand, Vietnam, Senegal, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Currently the program has students from Mexico, Brazil, Italy, China, Germany, and Spain living in Franklin County and attending MBHS.

“What [the International Student Program] brings is a lot of extra diversity into our school, which is a nice plus,” Dalrymple stated. “It brings to our students [this] other perspective, you know, outside perspective, global perspectives.

“There’s also a lot of similarities [between the international students and the MBHS students]. A teenager is a teenager for the most part,” she added.

The original intent of the International Student Program when it was established in 2015 was to generate funds to help re-initiate the World Language Program in the elementary schools, which had gone away due to budget cuts or other reasons.

“We used to have a strong program from the elementary on up and over the years due to budgets and other restraints, that has disappeared at the elementary level,” Dalrymple elaborated. “So, the purpose of the International Student Program was to try to bring funds to help with the initiation or re-initiation of our programming.”

The program also receives regular visits from a representative from Homeland Security, who performs audits twice a year to check the status of the program.

“[They] review our stuff, give us feedback [and] help us if we have questions. So, we’re always in contact with somebody if we need that,” Dalrymple said.

According to Dalrymple, very few programs have the certifications necessary for hosting international students. By her estimates, approximately 5% of the country’s public high schools offer this opportunity.

Host families also receive compensation for housing an international student, but according to Dalrymple and Director Richard Ruhlin, the real reward is from the experience itself.

“I’m on the 30th anniversary of having hosted a transformative experience with an exchange student, who is 47 years old now,” Ruhlin stated to the board. “I attended his wedding in Greece back this fall. He and his mother attended my daughter’s wedding in June, and all three of my children went to college exchange programs in Rwanda, Costa Rica, and Germany directly related to an exchange program.”

Ruhlin stated he was thrilled to see this as part of the options and availability in the school district.

“They share their culture, their ideas, their perspective with our students,” Dalrymple stated. “And then of course, our students can share not only an American, but the Maine experience and culture as well.”

Dalrymple also shared testimonials from host families, with one stating that their daughter “also feels that this has been a great experience. She said we have made sure that we sit down every night as a family, and experienced new things and new adventures with our exchange student that we may not have done otherwise.”

Director Judith Kaut asked Dalrymple if students in MBHS also went abroad.

“COVID-19 put a halt for some things,” Dalrymple responded. “So, we try to put together different programs where students can go and visit, more like an exchange versus a semester or a year. We have done that, but it’s been a long time since we’ve done a semester or a year for our students.”

For more information about the International Student Program, or for those interested in becoming a host family, please contact Lisa Dalrymple at 207-778-3561, extension 4781.