Council for Educational Travel, USA (CETUSA) is celebrating its 20th year of coordinating international high school student exchanges. As part of the celebration, CETUSA is announcing the creation of the CETUSA Founder’s Scholarship for study abroad in honor of founder Rick Anaya. Over the last 20 years, CETUSA has worked with over 80,000 students and host families making the dream of studying in the United States a reality. Looking to the future, CETUSA continues its top notch programs in the United States and commits to making study in other countries possible for a greater number of American high school students.
Founder Rick Anaya began CETUSA twenty years ago in Southern California and Switzerland with the belief that hosting international students in our homes, schools and communities is the most tangible way to impact global relations and cultural understanding. Commitment to that belief led Rick to bring together a team of experienced and passionate people to form the Council for Educational Travel, USA. CETUSA President Terry Watson and recently retired High School Program Director Peg Spolestra were two of the original group.
“Rick had a clear vision for the type of organization he wanted to create. He wanted an organization in which the people of CETUSA – the community coordinators, the managers and the entire program staff – were personally committed to the success of the students,” said Peg Spolestra in a recent message reminiscing about the early days of CETUSA. “CETUSA continues to strive for excellence in service to the high school students, host families, and communities that are part of the exchange experience. That level of excellence carries over to the Trainee and Intern programs and to the Study Abroad program that CETUSA has taken on in recent years,” noted Terry Watson at a recent conference of CETUSA managers.
CETUSA continues to expand its exchange opportunities with the US – Mexico Intern Program and a growing Study Abroad program. The US-Mexico Intern program was created by agreement between with the United States and Mexico to increase the number of Mexican university students participating in internship opportunities in the US. The Study Abroad program will begin the exciting process of awarding the Founder scholarship and also implementing an additional Generation Study Abroad scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year.