For generations, Los Alamos has benefited from people who come here from around the world, bringing new ideas, cultures, languages, and perspectives with them. Rotary Youth Exchange gives our teenagers that same opportunity to experience the world while bringing the world to Los Alamos.
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos operates the community’s only locally based international youth exchange program. Each year, we help Los Alamos students spend an academic year abroad while welcoming international students to live with local families and attend Los Alamos High School.
These are not tourism programs. Students become part of another family, another school, and another community. They learn a language, navigate a different culture, become more independent, and build friendships that often last for decades. At the same time, the students we welcome to Los Alamos become part of our community and share their own cultures with classmates, host families, and neighbors.
Because Rotary Youth Exchange is organized largely by volunteers through a worldwide network of Rotary clubs, we can provide an extraordinary international experience while keeping participation far more accessible to local families.
That accessibility matters. A year abroad should not be an opportunity reserved only for families who can afford an expensive commercial exchange program.
Your support helps us keep Youth Exchange available to Los Alamos students, support the international students we host here, and continue building the person-to-person relationships that make our world more connected.