GROUP SEEKS A.V. FAMILIES FOR STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM.

Byline: Joanne Crawford Education

PALMDALE - Pacific Intercultural Exchange, a San Diego-based student exchange organization is seeking Antelope Valley families to host young people for its inbound academic home-stay program.

Officials at the nonprofit agency, known as PIE, also have an outbound program for American teens wanting to study in another country.

The organization works to place 15- to 18-year-old international students in homes all across the United States for either the traditional academic year of September through June, September through January or January through June, Executive Director John Doty said.

The exchange students speak English and come from Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, Scandinavia and Australia, Distribution Manager Trinan Verwys said. The visitors arrive fully aware of the fact that the families are volunteering, she said.

``The families are doing this out of the goodness of their heart and truly want the cultural experience,'' Verwys said. ``The students don't come expecting to be chauffeured around 24 hours a day or anything like that. They genuinely want the American way of life.''

Families are asked to voluntarily provide a minimum of room and board, consisting of a bedroom, which can be shared with another youngster, and food should be available in the home for three meals a day, she said.

``We are a nonprofit organization, so we cannot reimburse our families,'' Verwys said. ``So we keep the cost to just room and board. Also, we feel that asking the families to voluntarily provide the room and board sets up the right atmosphere. The students are our responsibility while they are here, PIE is their legal guardian, so the family is not responsible for them.''

The organization welcomes all kinds of host families besides the traditional two-parent household, Verwys said.

``We want every type of family because that's what's representative of the United States,'' Verwys said. ``So, again, the most important thing to us is that those families genuinely want this experience and . . . it goes back to volunteering to do this rather than getting reimbursed for it.''

Host families are drawn from households with couples and single-parent households with or without children, Verwys said.

Families also come from a wide range of economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Volunteers can also live in various kinds of housing, such as apartments, condominiums or prefabricated homes, Verwys said.

Officials accept applications for potential host families on an ongoing basis and can many times meet specific desires of families requesting certain student characteristics, Verwys said.

The organization has a network of private, volunteer representatives in areas such as the Antelope Valley who are trained to help match students and families, Verwys said.

In the outbound study-abroad program, Americans ages 15 through 18 can travel to countries such as Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Russia, Passport Program Administrator Joanna McGowan said.

A home-stay program that is nonacademic is also available for young people ages 14 through 20, McGowan said.

Outbound participants are transported to their destination out of Los Angeles or John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and also live with volunteer host families, Verwys said.

The cost for the outbound programs ranges from about $3,200 to $6,500, not including personal expense money needed for the duration of the stay, McGowan said.

For more information about the inbound program, contact Verwys toll-free at [phone] or, for details on outbound, call McGowan at [phone].

LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley Theatre Arts Department will present ``Little Shop of Horrors'' July 21-23 and July 28-30 at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center.

The presentation, performed by the Theatre for Young Audiences group, will be held Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., AVC theater department Director Rick Roemer said.

The show is a rock 'n' roll spoof of 1950s science-fiction movies.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors 62 and over and $10 for those under age 17 or students with valid identification. For more information, call [phone]

- Daily News