The Dual Immersion Program in Utah has proved to be a great success. The program was first instituted at Granite School District in the summer and now the Utah State Office of Education expects that soon it could have up to 30,000 students enrolled in the program. 

The Dual Immersion Program gives kids, starting as early as 1st grade, 50 percent of their instruction in English and 50 percent in another language. Reading and Language arts classes are taught half of the day in English. While classes like math, science, or social studies are taught in their targeted language. Art, music, and P.E. can be taught in either language.

Educational representatives from other states and even other countries are coming to Utah to view the program’s model. Gregg Roberts, the world language specialist for the Utah State Office of Education says that in the fall there will be 14 more programs, making a total of 51 programs and 7,000 students enrolled. The hope is to have 100 programs and 30,000 students enrolled by 2014.

Like the Au Pair program, the Dual Immersion Program gives children the opportunity to experience culture exchange. Learning a new language is important to broaden student’s view and gain professional and personal enrichment experiences.

For more information visit KSL.com or the Granite School District’s Web site.

The Au Pair program was launched in 1989 by the U.S. Department of State. It consists of bringing foreign nationals between the ages of 18-26 to live with a family in the United States, take university credits and overall improve their English skills, while offering child care and performing light housekeeping.

Because the Au Pair program is carefully regulated by the U.S. Department of State, Au Pair and Host Family candidates must work with a designated sponsor of the Au Pair Program. These sponsors are responsible for background screening and training, travel, visas and managing Au Pair and Host Families interactions.  goAUPAIR was one of the original six Au Pair sponsor agencies designated by the U.S. Department of State.

At our headquarters office, our Placement Coordinators meticulously review the preferences and qualifications of each Au Pair to begin sending Host Families information about numerous Au Pair candidates who best fit the Host Families’ needs. They also manage the Au Pair application process and once a match has been confirmed, your Placement Coordinator will begin working on the Au Pair’s arrival process.

We also work with Local Area Representatives all over the U.S. Their job is to provide local support to our Host Families and Au Pairs. Local Area Representatives perform the initial interview in the family’s home before their Au Pair arrives, they are also responsible for an orientation shortly after the Au Pair has arrived. In addition to maintaining monthly contacts, Local Area Representatives also hold Au Pair activities as well as provide Host Family Day Conferences which every Host Family is required to attend at least once each year.

Currently, goAUPAIR represents hundreds families across the U.S. and works with Au Pair agencies in over 50 countries around the world.

We recently held a successful conference with the region team leads of our Local Area Representatives. The conference lasted four days and was held at our corporate office located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The conference was a great opportunity to meet with five of our regional directors and discuss how goAUPAIR can better help Host Families through our Local Area Representatives. Topics that were discussed included customer service, marketing, training, Au Pair activities and Host Family support, among others.

"The results from our team lead conference have been fantastic. Breaking out into groups with different focuses really gave us a chance to have one-on-one time with each of our team leads," said Tanna Wilson, managing director of goAUPAIR. "We enjoyed the chance we had to take advantage of the great ideas that come from our team leads."

The three day conference officially began Wednesday and ran through Friday; however, a few team leads arrived early for extra training instructions. We also had a chance to enjoy a delicious dinner with our Team Leads at the iconic Spaghetti Factory Restaurant, located in the historic Trolley Square. Overall it was a great conference. We look forward to implementing the great ideas that came out of it.

goAUPAIR is pleased to announce Tucson, Arizona; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Albany, New York as the newest service areas for our Au Pair child care programs. Because of the increasing demand from Tucson, Tulsa and Albany’s families for affordable child care alternatives, we have decided to expand our services to these areas. Our hope is to bring a positive influence to families and these communities, providing year-round support and information about the benefits of cultural exchange coupled with child care.

Families in Tucson, Tulsa and Albany are now able to enjoy all the benefits an Au Pair offers. Many Host Families continually mention how much they like the flexible scheduling and personalized child care their Au Pair brings. It also exposes your children to a different culture and allows them to be cared for in a familiar environment. An Au Pair is a young adult who comes to the United States to live with a family while providing 45 hours of child care each week in exchange for room and board and a small stipend.

As our new service areas, Tucson, Tulsa and Albany residents also will enjoy a Local Area Representative from goAUPAIR. Our Local Area Representatives are responsible to meet with and interview families interested in hosting an Au Pair, ensuring they meet the regulations set by the Department of State. Along with helping Host Families, Local Area Representatives also host activities for Au Pairs in the area, allowing the young international adults a chance to get to know the Tucson, Tulsa and Albany areas and, meet other local Au Pairs and share learning experiences. 

The Au Pair Program was created by the Department of State to help increase cultural exchange and international relations. We are happy to bring Tucson, Tulsa and Albany more than 20 years of experience with child care. For more information about goAUPAIR, our Au Pair programs available in Tucson, Tulsa and Albany and how to get to know your Local Area Representative, please visit goAUPAIR.com.

This year is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.  Especially today, many efforts are being made to promote environmental friendly practices. So far 31,466,703 billion acts of green were made in communities all around the globe (earthday.org). Some of the core issues are climate change, conservation and biodiversity, energy recycling and waste reduction and finding ways to grow in harmony with nature.

At home or in the office there are many ways we can support a “greener attitude”. goAUPAIR uses these easy green office tips to help save energy, money and resources:

We take advantage of the latest technology including, web conferencing, and online document management systems (this measure has reduced printing by 90 percent) to reduce printing, traveling, and waste creation. In addition to taking advantage of cutting edge technology, goAUPAIR also uses good old fashion scrap paper whenever possible. We encourage our employees to use more scrap paper and fewer notebooks.

In our corporate office building we have installed “smart lighting” that uses sensors that allow for lights to turn off in hallways, offices and conference rooms after a period of inactivity. This measure alone has drastically reduced our energy consumption. We also have installed a water filtration cooler to avoid buying bottled water and creating more waste. goAUPAIR also contracts a garbage disposal service that sorts and recycles all garbage in addition to using recycling bins for paper and soda cans.

Besides our sustainable practices in our corporate offices, goAUPAIR encourages all employees to protect the environment. The majority of our employees live within ten minutes of our offices and drive fuel efficient vehicles, including two hybrid vehicles. We also have employees that work from home in order to reduce emissions and traffic congestion.

Here are some links to find more ways to celebrate Earth Day everyday at work or at home:

http://earthday.nature.org/?gclid=COWNjYubm6ECFRLxDAodAn-wNw

http://www.earthday.org/

Thousands have been affected by a tragic earthquake that hit western China on Tuesday morning las week. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Qinghai, China at 7:49 a.m. local time (7:49 p.m. EST). There have been at least three aftershocks, with the biggest measuring at a magnitude of 6.3.

Early reports say there are more than 400 dead and over 10,000 injured with many others still missing. The damage from the earthquake in the mountain centered town located near Tibet was tremendous. It's estimated that over 85 percent of the city’s buildings have sustained some type of damage.

Qinghai is located in the high mountains of western China. At over 12,000 feet above sea level the mountainous town is now reeling in the damage left from the earthquake. However, the Qinghai area is no stranger to strong earthquakes; in 2008 more than 70,000 people were killed in an earthquake in a neighboring city.

Phone services to towns near the epicenter of the earthquake have been restored; however, rescue teams are struggling to find survivors. Because of the remote location of Qinghai, the clean up efforts are slow but progressing. The lack of heavy machinery like excavators is making it difficult for people to move the large amounts of rubble. Although survivors have been pulled from the debris there are still many missing.

"Thousands of volunteers are going to disaster area. On the Internet people have started donations. Everyone's heart is beating with the people who are suffering in the disaster area.  We hope more and more people could be rescued; we hope the food and medicine would arrive as soon as possible." - Sai liu, Au Pair from China living in Atlanta, GA

goAUPAIR was pleased to attend and participant in the annual Work Experience Travel Market and IAPA Annual Conference in Miami, Florida last month. During the conference some the employees from goAUPAIR had the chance to meet with International Representatives and potential future representatives from various parts of the world. 

During the conference goAUPAIR was recognized as a Long-Standing Member of the International Au Pair Association. This recognition is given to members that have held membership in good

standing for 10 years. Meghan Ramirez, received the award from Jack Hompes, the IAPA Executive Board Chairperson, on behalf of goAUPAIR.

“The WETM-IAC (IAPA) Conference allows many of the leading Au Pair organizations in the world to come together and meet in one location.  Meeting existing partners in person and talking about the Au Pair program face to face, and what both sides can do to improve it is essential to a good partnership (…) You begin to develop an actual relationship with each agency to foster a better working environment and in effect, better applicants.     

Featuring seminars, community action programs, award ceremonies and more, WETM-IAC enables delegates to help shape their business and the industry for tomorrow.  Representatives from goAUPAIR took part in several informative seminars, practice discussions and case study reviews.

“I am glad we were able to meet together as an Au Pair community and discuss issues that are important to all of us. I was able to meet so many of our agents and put a face to their names, to hear their stories a

nd why they are involved in the Au Pair program.”

WETM-IAC Conference provides a unique opportunity for organizations working with cultural exchange, Au Pair and work experience programs to meet and ‘to establish and strengthen sector-focused partnerships, gain industry intelligence and tap into emerging global markets.’

“As the International Representative Coordinator, I feel that being able to talk with the people that I work with without the separation of email or the phone will make our cooperation go much smoother in the future. I learned a lot about the Au Pair industry around the world, and hopefully will be able to put what I learned to good use.”

goAUPAIR is always reaching out for better alternatives and new resources to make the Au Pair program more effective to our Host Families. Meeting International Representatives and making connections with agencies from all over the world gives goAUPAIR a chance to recruit Au Pairs from more cultures and backgrounds which gives our Host Families a greater variety of Au Pairs and countries to choose from. 

  For more information about the annual Work Experience Travel Market and IAPA Annual Conference visit http://www.iapa.ca/