Many aspects of taking part in a student exchange program can be daunting – living apart from family and friends, often in the home of strangers, in a place where another language is spoken.

For some students, however, such a cultural experience is a dream come true. And for a local family, welcoming students from abroad has been deeply rewarding.

For the past six years, Cranston resident Sandra Marinucci Santagata, her husband, John, and their two sons, 12-year-old Gianni and 8-year-old Nico, have hosted students through Cultural Homestay International, or CHI.

Santagata has strong Cranston roots. She attended Gladstone Elementary School, Bain Middle School and Cranston High School West, graduating as a member of the class of 1989. She is now the Rhode Island coordinator for CHI.

Several years ago, Santagata received an email from Judith Chick regarding the possibility of helping to find homes and families to take in exchange students.

“My husband jumped on board right away, while I was still reading the email,” she said.

All the students they have brought into their home have been girls from Italy.

“Because they are all seniors, they are more mature, more responsible. As the host family, you can pick gender and country, host for a full school year or a half year where the students leave after holidays,” Santagata said, noting that she recommends hosting for the full school year.

This year, the family is hosting Alessia Aicardi.

“I live in the northern part of Italy on the west coast, in a city called Sanremo in the region of Liguria,”Alessia said. “I left my country in August 2018, and after the end of the school year I’ll be back home in June.”

“The high schools in Italy have completely different experiences,” Santagata said. “The are no caps and gowns at graduation, no sports, and no proms.”

Alessia explained the contrast between the high school experience the two countries in more details.

“The two most important differences are that in Italy, we have five years of high school, for a total of 13 years of school from the first grade to the end of the high school, and we have the same classroom for the five high school years with the same 25-28 classmates,” she said. “Having the same classroom, the teachers come to our classroom, while here in America every teacher has their own room.”

She added, “In Italy, we cannot choose the classes that we want to take, but we choose the high school that we want to attend. In fact, we have specific high schools for specific fields. I’m studying in a high school specialized in foreign languages and I’m taking English, French and German.”

Alessia said the school year also begins later in Italy, around Sept. 15, and concludes in mid-June.

“In one year, we take 12 classes and we don’t have lunch at school,” she said. “Each period is 55 minutes and we have six periods per day. School starts at 7.50 a.m. and finishes at 2 p.m.”

Alessia said her mother was a strong influence in leading her to take part in the exchange program.

“I would say that my mom helped me a lot in deciding to come to America. She has always wanted me to make an experience as amazing as this is and that I will remember for all my life,” she said.

She added, “Going abroad was really important to me. I think that the first reason was that I wanted to improve my English. I think that knowing other languages it’s really important in order to be able to talk to other people that are not from your own country. I also wanted to go to study abroad in order to meet another culture and to start to be part of a new family. I also wanted to challenge myself to live in a place that I wasn’t use to, where everything was new to me.”

Alessia acknowledged that the first weeks of her time in Rhode Island were challenging as she became homesick, but she said the Cranston West community has been very welcoming and supportive.

“I think that Cranston West is an amazing school,” she said. “I’m loving my time studying there and the people are really nice. I love all my classes and I think that they offer some really good courses.”

Principal Tom Barbeiri spoke about the benefits an exchange student brings to the school community.

“I strongly believe in providing students with a well-rounded education. Part of that is exposure to the world,” he said. “While we do many activities, lessons, Skype chatting, trips … international exchange students provide our educational community with direct, everyday contact. Their energy, perspectives and values provide us with insights that are inclusive and respected by our school community.”

Sanatagata said she has established rules that each girl staying in her home must follow – and has found that they are not all that different from the rules the visitors have in their own homes.

“They must be home during the week. They have responsibilities from day one … Never leave your key behind. Who, what, when, where – keep me informed. I need to know,” she said. “They must do community service, cannot drive, cannot work, cannot use tobacco or alcohol.”

The process to become a host family is stringent, Santagata said. There are no financial incentives involved, but the rewards are easy to come by.

“It is 100-percent voluntarily. There is no financial compensation,” she said. “But the family is given back to in such a different way. We, as a family, have learned and grown so much from these experiences. Each girl is different, and brings their own specialness with them. We are still in touch with all of them. Two have already come back to visit, and this summer the girl who was with us last year is coming back. My sons say they now have six older sisters.”

Santagata noted that residents to not need to be married, have children, have children in high school or live in Cranston to be a host. All that is needed, she said, is “a need to help someone, and change their life and yours forever.”

CHI is non-reciprocal, meaning it is not an exchange program for U.S. students to travel abroad.

With Alessia’s time in Cranston soon coming to an end, she is gearing up for an exciting conclusion to her trip.

“Since I don’t have much time left, I can’t wait for the graduation ceremony because it’s something that I always seen in the movies and that looks amazing,” she said. “But to be honest, I just want to enjoy the time that I have left as best as I can … the time flies by really fast, and I can’t believe that I left my country eight months ago and in two months I’ll be back.”

Santagata is also grateful to the help and support she has received from Cranston Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse.

“We enjoy having students from all over the world in our schools,” Nota-Masse said. “The exchange students bring their life experiences and are able share a different perspective with our own students on their education, as well as the similarities they share as adolescents.”

To learn more about CHI and being a host, contact Sandra Santagata at nuch63@verizon.net or 639-2616.