A former teacher, Heather Hoeber always imagined herself surrounded by kids.

But when she moved from California to Medford, she also left the classroom and took a job as a telemarketing fundraiser with nonprofit organizations. She's single, with no children.

"Hosting an exchange student was a happy medium," she said. "I could share my home and life and culture and create a family that could bridge a gap in the world."

The world seems smaller when you have two teenage girls — one from Brazil and one from South Korea — giggling together in your spare room, she explained.

More than a dozen student-exchange programs place traveling teens with host families in the Rogue Valley. Many are screening potential hosts now for students who will arrive in the fall, looking for people willing to take on the rewards and challenges of welcoming a traveling teen into their home.

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"It's a way to travel without going anywhere," said Ellen Eichamer, a community representative with Academic Year in the U.S.A., or AYUSA. She places students with host families and monitors them throughout the year, organizing field trips and community service projects.

Bringing a bit of the world home was why Stephanie Loeffler of Medford opened her home to exchange students three years ago.

She was familiar with exchanges through American Field Service because her older son had gone to Costa Rica as a college freshman through the program. She thought hosting a high school exchange student would benefit her youngest son, since his brother and sister are already out of the house.

"I thought this would be a great experience for him," Loeffler said.

She and her husband and son pored over student profiles and chose to host a boy from Brazil. However, their student was just here to meet girls and his promiscuous ways weren't a good match for the family, which puts a strong focus on academics, she said.

"He had to change families," Loeffler said.

The next year, they hosted another Brazilian boy, who was "a wonderful student" and a fine fit with their family, she said.

Loeffler now is the American Field Service support liaison who helps place students in Southern Oregon. She didn't plan to host a student this year. However, when a planned host had a family issue arise the week before students arrived last fall, she took a boy from Norway into her home.

"I have had great kids, but I have had issues with each of them," she said.

"And they've probably had issues with me," she added with a laugh. "They are teenagers."

Both AYUSA and American Field Service offer training for host families, their representatives said. The gatherings help hosts and students know what to expect as kids adapt to living in a foreign country with a family that's not their own.

Having good support from the sponsoring agency and its representatives is important, said Hoeber. She hosts students through Pacific Intercultural Exchange and is the organization's local representative.

She previously hosted with another organization, which she declined to name, and said she didn't have a good experience. Staff and volunteer turnover was high, leaving her and students feeling alone and uncertain, she said.

Kacey Dewing, a social studies teacher at St. Mary's School, was already familiar with AYUSA coordinators and students when she decided to host. She had invited exchange students to her classes as guest speakers and had been impressed. So when Eichamer asked if she would host, Dewing said she would like to, someday, maybe when her kids were older.

Then, Eichamer presented a profile of a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, Linda Jaber. Dewing, who has a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies and an interest in the Palestinian conflict, decided this was the year after all.

"My girls are 6 and 9, and they loved having a big sister," Dewing said. "Linda has five little sisters, so she fit right in."

The Dewings sent Linda home in early June, but plan to visit her and her family next month.

"This experience will definitely stick with us," Dewing said. "It was wonderful."

She said she plans to host again, but not right away.

"I need a little space between so I don't compare students," she said.

Families interested in hosting should time their experience to suit their needs, Loeffler said. Some families want to have an exchange student close in age to their own kids; others would rather not have the potential jealousy and competition of teens close in age, she said.

Several coordinators said it's important for the whole family, including the kids, to support having an exchange student.

Coordinators review host family applications and student profiles, which include preferences and hobbies. They try to match interests, but families get the final say on whom they invite into their home. Coordinators monitor the placement through the year and can move students if problems arise. Only a few serious offenses can result in a student being sent home, and a very few desperately homesick students arrange to leave on their own, coordinators said.

Potential host families also should consider their budget.

"It can be financially challenging," Loeffler said.

Students have their own spending money and health insurance, but families should expect their expenses to rise, coordinators said.

Hosts are responsible for food and housing. Some expenses — such as extensive travel — are negotiable.

Dewing said increased food costs were the only real change in her family's budget while hosting. Linda's family paid for her to accompany the Dewings on a family vacation.

Many families find themselves traveling more when they host — whether just driving teens across town or going on outings to the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake or farther afield.

"I spent money on these girls, but it's not money I regret," Hoeber said. "It's not a burden."

She took her makeshift international family — JiYoung You, 16, from Korea, and Fernanda Polezel de Oliveira, 17, from Brazil — camping and fishing, to the coast, to Portland, as well as to Britt Festivals shows and Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays. She and the girls split gas and lodging costs on their spring break trip to Portland.

"I took some shortcuts so I can afford to do this," Hoeber said. "We have to shop smart for food."

Rotary programs and a Southern Oregon University exchange offer a stipend for host families, but most programs don't. Host families can be eligible for a $50 per month tax deduction.

People involved with exchange students agree that the biggest payoff comes from watching teens explore the world and growing with them.

"It's like having a baby," Eichamer said. "You have fresh eyes. When you represent your country to these kids, you feel more American. When you look through their eyes, you grow right along with them."

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.