An the AFS Metrowest Volunteer of the Year Award goes to…………….

On June 6 American Field Service (AFS) honored Beth Benjamin at a luncheon hosted in Wellesley and presented her with a Certificate of Recognition for her contributions to AFS .   She was voted Volunteer of the Year by the Massachusetts Bay Chapter of AFS.

For those who don’t know Beth this certificate and recognition is so well deserved. For those that do know her, this recognition is minor compared to the multifaceted contributions Beth has continuously made to the Dover Sherborn and Metro West area AFS program over the past several years.  

Beth is a parent volunteer who has dedicated the past eight or more years to this organization both for the local Dover Sherborn High School Chapter of AFS in the capacity of heading up the parent support organization as well as leading the high school student club.  The high school lost its teacher advisor stipend about five years ago and has not had a dedicated club advisor from the school since.  Beth stepped in to fill that void over the last several years and has done much more beyond.  I can honestly say that there would be no AFS program at DS if it weren't for Beth.  In addition Beth is a volunteer at the Regional level  which will be described later.

The high school has had AFS students visit with host families for the academic school year and has also helped send students to live with host families abroad.  The international exchange is an opportunity to expand ones horizons beyond the local community and prepare our students for a wider global living perspective.

Traditionally the Clubs main activity was recognized as the AFS host weekend in early November where students from all over the Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire and even Rhode Island Chapters visit DS for a full day of classes to share their cultures with the Dover Sherborn students during class sessions.  The students stay at homes of the DSHS families and have a full weekend immersion into life at DS. 

The weekend activities include an International Talent Showcase Gala where the AFS students are encouraged to perform song and dances from their countries on the Friday night of their stay.  This gala is open to the public and has been the main source of fundraising for the club (although it typically brings in only enough money to fund a few minor club expenses including prom tickets and yearbooks for visiting Dover Sherborn AFS students).  During the weekend the students have an opportunity to spend a day in Boston as tourists and then have some fun social events with the Dover Sherborn students as well.  After this weekend the DS students often have many longterm friends and are encouraged to continue this friendship for the remaining school year.

Beth has been the glue to keeping this weekend going for as long as I can remember.  This is a huge job and entails getting host families registered and approved by the AFS organization, coordinating hosting assignments of the students,  drop off and pick up arrangements for each visiting student, coordinating with the school faculty to have the students visit the classes and assigning the responsibilities of the AFS student club to host and chaperone these students during their stay.  All of this sounds like a lot to coordinate but this is only a glimpse into Beth’s contributions to AFS.  I am witness to all of her activities as I have been both a host family twice and AFS parent board member too during all of Beths reign.  I could not have been as active if it weren't for Beths devotion and leadership.  

She also has been the liason to visiting AFS students in the Metrowest area and has helped with their placement in host families.  This entails finding volunteer host families, getting them interviewed and approved as hosts, helping them match with a student, coordinating the approvals for the student enrollment into the school in their towns and matching the family/student with a liason.  During the year she needs to check in periodically with the host families and has even been called upon to host herself when things may not have worked out in a host situation.  In one instance she ended up hosting a student for close to 6 weeks this year.  She doesn’t even have students in high school any longer!!

She runs the high school AFS club monthly meetings and has made the club stronger than it has ever been.  Each month the club has a meeting focused around either a country or a cultural theme.  They sometimes meet right after school and sometime have gone on field trips to different restaurants such as an Ethiopian one in Central Square and into Chinatown for Chinese New Year. 

Beth’s youngest child graduated DSHS in June 2012 and Beth has kept up her dedication to the highest level this past year.   She has truly been remarkable and has been such as asset to the Dover Sherborn community as well as the Massachusetts Bay chapter.  For the local program at the high school it is time to recognize the need for a faculty person to take over this responsibility and reintegrate it with the school curriculum.  Beth is ready to move on and will not be able to commit to fulfil the huge role she has played supporting the high school AFS program.  At the high school this is part of the school culture and for quality and continuity purposes deserves a dedicated faculty advisor. 

Beth has gone above and beyond her role as a volunteer both at the local Dover level and the Massachusetts Bay level.  We all should recognize Beth for her hard work and devotion and thank her for helping to strengthen the AFS program and the global awareness it has woven into the fabric of Dover Sherborn High School.