Check Out Connie Polk’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Connie Polk.

Hi Connie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
What started out as answering a Craigslist ad to work part-time with foreign exchange students turned into a 7-year journey that opened up Savannah and me to the adventure of welcoming kids from around the world for 10 months each year.

I am the Area Coordinator for Greenheart Exchange and to date, I have placed 60 full-year high school students, a group of 15, 3-week students, and 3 independent homestay summer students from 20 countries. These kids live with local host families and are fully immersed in American culture and language.

Over the years, I have worked with 10 schools in the Savannah/Richmond Hill area, and as far away as Beaufort, SC. This school year, I have had 12 students attending Savannah Arts Academy, Islands High School, Woodville Tompkins High School, Jenkins High School, and Richmond Hill High School.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
When you work with teenagers and families who have never met until that plane lands there are inevitably going to be bumps in the road, some serious, some merely teen drama or family dynamics, but rarely anything insurmountable. The Covid pandemic was the worst, when I had to tell 8 students and their families that they would be going home immediately, 2.5 months early. This year we dealt with Covid issues off and on, but the families and students rolled with it, worked together, and came out on the other side still smiling. Also this year the war in Ukraine was a struggle, as some of my students are from Poland and were closely affected, but the kids came together and raised over $4000 for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), turning the fear into action by supporting each other.

It is my job to work with everyone, including schools, to make the year go as smoothly as possible and to guide them through both the rough times as well as to celebrate every single good thing that occurs.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My job has multiple aspects.

First, I must determine which schools in my area are accepting exchange students for the coming school year. Next, I must recruit hosts for the students, which includes the application process, a home visit, and criminal background checks to complete the vetting process per Department of State regulations.

Once a host is approved, I present them with student applications from our database and they then, with my guidance, can select a student best matched to their lifestyle, interests, and activity level, as well as to the school the student will attend.

The hosts and the students must attend an orientation session, and once a month I communicate with each to monitor how everyone is doing. I deal with whatever issues may arise and offer my support throughout the school year.

I am most proud of how many students have come through this region because of my efforts and because of the willingness of so many families and individuals who so generously volunteer their homes, their time, and their hearts to this amazing adventure.

I know for certain that what sets me apart from other coordinators working for other agencies is my passion, my dedication, my ongoing involvement with and availability to students, families, and schools at all times. I show up.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
My 8 students in 2019-20 were having an incredible year and then suddenly it was my job to tell them and their host families that they would be leaving as soon as flights could be arranged in early-mid March. It was shocking to us all, and devastating to them as their 10 months were shortened to 8.

They couldn’t even say goodbye to their teachers and school friends as they were on planes within 2 weeks after the school shut down. I suppose what I learned was that this created an even stronger, united bond between each other, their host families, and me, and as traumatic as it was their resilience came shining through in the months following. We were definitely in it together.

This year I had to plead with the school district to allow me to place students again after a year of none, and this group of 12 (10 in Savannah, 2 in Richmond Hill) has been such a blessing and a renewal, a building back from the ashes.

Because of the families willing to host after Covid year and students still being willing to take the chance on a year abroad exchange will survive and grow strong once again.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: greenheartexchange.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenheartexchange/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenheartInternational
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreenheartExchange