Coosa Christian expands international program

While Coosa Christian School has welcomed foreign exchange students for years, the program reached a new high in the 2017-2018 school year.

“It’s the first time we’ve had 16 international students from eight different countries in our school,” School Administrator Amanda Justus said.

“We have always welcomed teenagers from other countries wanting to experience America, but we’ve never had such a variety of students from very different cultures. It’s exciting,” she said.

Justus said the expansion of the program started in 2012, when the school welcomed its first student from Turkmenistan, and in the years following it hosted students from Turkey, Germany and Japan. This year, she said, the school has its first student from Albania, the first from The Bahamas, and possibly the first Spanish and Italian students.

The school also has students attending this year from China, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

“We’ve been able to spread these students out in the high school grades so that each class has several of the students,” Justus said. These 16 students are preparing to share information about their countries and cultures before the student body.

“Our exchange student program is a unique opportunity for our American Students to learn, first hand, about other countries and cultures all through high school,” said David Ford, a member of the school’s board of directors and a longtime host of exchange students.

“While the students come here to learn more about America and to improve their English skills, we want to also better educate our American students on how other countries operate and the positive things that occur in their countries,” Ford said.

Coosa Christian School is known for its academic programs, Justus said, and these exchange students usually fit in well — being high-achieving, talented teens who want to better themselves.

“They add to our school academically,” she said, “and most are in the Beta Club and are on the honor roll.” Some of the students graduate from Coosa Christian School and stay in the U.S. to attend college.

Ford said two students from Turkmenistan and Turkey remain here attending Jacksonville State University. He hosted both students.

A South Korean student Ford hosted, who graduated in 2016 after four years at Coosa Christian, went on to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical college in Florida and is training to be an airline pilot.

“He will definitely need the English skills he gained while attending Coosa Christian School, as well as the social skills and the Christian principles we share with our students,” Ford said.

“DaeKyun came as a frightened 14-year-old that could barely speak English, and he is now a mature, personable, 20-year-old who may soon be flying some of us from one country to another on an airplane,” he said. “That’s an amazing story, and just one of many from our international graduates."

Justus said the school’s board and staff are very supportive of the international program. Two teachers are hosting students this year.

She, too, hosted a South Korean student who spent three years with her family before graduating last year.

“Our boy became a part of our family, and still is,” Justus said. “We have family pictures of him around so everyone can see our oldest son.”

High school science instructor and counselor Loey Mills is hosting two students this year; she’s hosted three other during the past decade.

Mills and her husband, Matthew, have six children of their own. She said she hosted foreign students to help them, but also for her children’s benefit.

“We wanted to expose them to other cultures and people of the world,” she said. As a teacher, she said, she enjoyes seeing the American and foreign students interacting.

“The learn so much from each other,” Mills said. “Our exchange students also take what they learn about our faith in God with them.”

Math teacher Ruth Wright hosted a South Korean girl for several years and is now hosting a South Korean boy.

“We have four kids of our own, and these exchange students add a lot of joy to our lives. We love them and enjoy having them,” she said.

Even Jason Ellen, pastor of The Church of Wills Creek where Coosa Christian is located, is hosting an international student. Karter — also Ellen’s nephew — came to the U.S. from The Bahamas and began attending Coosa Christian last year, as a sophomore.

Ellen and his wife, Maria, have four children. He said he wishes more people would get involved in hosting international students because the “blessings are endless.

“Hosting opens the doors for us to discuss goals and aspiration, God and the Bible, and even cultural issues,” he said.

Ellen encourages church members to host a student for at least one year, to have the opportunity to learn and share.

Justus said many host families have children the same age as the exchange student, but man single people and retired couples also host students attending the school.

The Church at Wills Creek supports the program, as Crosspoint Community Church did in the past. Cornerstone Church of Gadsden also has provided several host families for students attending Coosa Christian in the past few years.

“Hosting is a great experience,” Ford said, “sharing our great country and faith with these teens is an amazing opportunity. Those who try it usually enjoy it very much and many host for more than one year.”

Ford is hosting his eighth and ninth students this year, and he said the school would like to see even more students from unique countries attend.

“It’s a great benefit to the visiting students, but it is also beneficial to our students who learn they can easily communicate with those from other countries, and who now have friends in other countries they can visit.”

For more information about hosting an exchange student with Coosa Christian, call the school at 256-547-1841, or Ford at 256-694-1980.