Coming to Cortes - The Discovery Island's First Homestay program

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Discovery Islands first homestay program will start on up Cortes Island this September.

Rhonda Teramura, the Homestay Coordinator for International Student Programs within School District 72 explained, “I think it's amazing that we're finally able to broaden out wider than the Campbell River core of the city. It'll be a wonderful experience for our district, our local Campbell River students and for internationals alike to expand and explore and connect with folks that are out in the Discovery Islands.”
While School District stretches from the Oyster River to Sayward, and includes both Quadra and Cortes Islands, all of the 56 students currently enrolled in the homestay program are staying in Campbell River. A Quadra Island family almost agreed to host, but ‘life changes’ brought this possibility to an end.
Now Teramura is looking for 15-20 placings for students wanting to participate in the Cortes Island Academy.
The homestay program is offering $900 a month to Cortes Island families willing to take a student into their homes. This is meant to cover food and lodging. Almost everything beyond that comes from the student’s personal money.
One of the exceptions is a change in diet. For example: if a vegan student boards with a meat eating family, the School District will provide an additional $125 a month so the family can provide vegan meals.
Students will be looking for either 5 month or 10 month accommodations, depending on how much of their course load is on Cortes.
Two families have already applied to be hosts and a third has indicated they are interested.
“I'd like to have as many as possible because I will also be helping to place Campbell River kids in homestays,” said Teramura.
Most of the students are in grades 10 and 11, so will need the same guidance, nurturing and support that any teenager does, ‘especially considering they've traveled abroad on their own.’
Potential host families will have to go through a criminal record check, a driver’s license clearance and an interview process.
“We talk about all the various kinds of things that they can offer a student, and why they want to be part of the program,” said Teramura. “Then we really look at matching the personalities of what the student puts on their application, what they're interested in doing and the kind of family structure they're used to. We try to make the best possible fit.”
They want students to fit into the host family’s day-to-day chores, activities and social engagements.
“We really hope to see that a connection is formed so that the student is orienting to the host parent as an extension of their own family - and the majority of our students are,” explained Teramura. “Our homestays are expected to provide three meals a day plus snacks. They're expected to provide a bedroom with a door that closes obviously, a bed, some storage for clothing, access to bathroom and hygiene facilities.”