Students who are interested in traveling abroad but don’t have money, now have the opportunity at Venice this year of earning a scholarship to pay for the trip.  CIEE, the Council on International Education Exchange, recently decided to partner with Venice High School to support students who want to travel and study in different countries. The deadline for the applications are due this week, on Nov. 30.

Italian teacher Carolyn Willcox is helping students who are working on applications for  a CIEE exchange at lunch and after school in Room 222 in the West Building, so they can meet the deadline.

The program offers high school students a range of programs from language and culture, service and leadership and even global discovery. There are various locations around the world. Some of the locations found within these programs are: Italy, France, Spain, Thailand, South Africa, Australia and Morocco.

CIEE is very accessible; they offer scholarships that make studying abroad possible. CIEE is very diverse when it comes to its programs. For instance, “we have programs for students interested in languages, service, cooking, K-Pop, sustainability, entrepreneurship, theatre, diplomacy, etc. There’s literally something for everyone,” said Mrs. Hill.

Jessie Hill has been working with CIEE for a year now. She assists those who need are in need of help with their applications, does school presentations and speaks to parents to reassure them of any concerns they have.

“CIEE is the leader in international education and is the oldest and largest non profit organization dedicated to student exchange in the USA,” said Mrs. Hill.

High school students, especially those who are freshmen, sophomores and juniors, have the benefit of applying for a need-based scholarship, which can cover from 10 percent to 100 percent of the tuition and for a merit-based scholarship that only covers 10 percent of the tuition. Seniors are only able to apply for a merit-based scholarship, but that should not discourage anyone. There is plenty of time until the trips take place, meaning there is time to fundraise money to pay for the trip.

Seventy-five percent of the scholarships go towards this deadline, but if for any reason you are unable to submit your application by this deadline, there will be another scholarship deadline which is Feb. 8. However, there is a $25 application fee.

“Our summer programs are unique for many reasons,” said Hill. “One is that we work very hard to analyze and learn about what schools want and work to provide applicable programs. So our language programs are aligned with ACTFL standards. Our service and learning programs offer 50 hours of community service, which can be put towards the school’s requirements. Our topic based programs (called global discovery) give students the opportunity to pursue an interest and develop skills through hands on projects and workshops- for example going to Botswana to study Wildlife Conservation and learn what the people of the country are doing to protect their wildlife. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend their summer with rhinos and giraffes in Africa?’’

“We have a full department in Portland, Maine devoted solely to health, safety and risk
assessment,” said Mrs. Hill. “Because we have been around for so long and have such a large presence in the international exchange community, we have a lot of valuable resources and insight into the climate of study abroad and exchange around the world. We also have a whole team that is dedicated to helping students through the application process, narrowing down the perfect program, and speaking to families about the benefits of study abroad.”

If you would like to explore your options visit: Council for International Educational Exchange