Zander Earl of Ridgefield High School is undergoing training for the exchange student program, and he is scheduled to leave for Mexico later this summer

Zander Earl, a Ridgefield High School student heavily involved in school and community activities, has been selected by the Greater Clark County Rotary Club to serve as a youth ambassador to central Mexico.

Zander is undergoing extensive orientation and training for the exchange. He is scheduled to leave this summer to spend his junior year in a Mexican high school while living with three different host families. It is considered a true immersion in local culture and a life-changing international experience.

His parents, Alex Earl and Kim Schwalb, have given Zander an international perspective through their work and travels. They are responsible for a small portion of the exchange expenses, but a scholarship covers the majority.

Zander takes Advanced Placement classes at Ridgefield and competes for the school’s Knowledge Bowl team. He is also a track and field and cross country athlete. He also is serving a term on the Ridgefield Youth Commission working on public policy. A member of Scouting America, Zander is completing his Eagle Scout project with his troop and the Salmon Creek United Methodist Church. Before he leaves on his exchange this summer, he will serve on the Advanced Leadership Faculty at the Scouting America Philmont National Training Center.

Zander will serve as ambassador to an area that stretches from Acapulco on the west coast to Vera Cruz on the east coast and includes larger cities such as Puebla and Cuernavaca.

Next month, local Rotary Clubs will be accepting applications from high school freshmen in any Clark County school to undergo training their sophomore year to spend their junior year abroad. The Rotary Clubs have partnerships with Japan, India, France, Germany, Denmark and Brazil and a dozen other countries.

An essential part of the program are host families.

Any Ridgefield area family that would like to learn more about expanding their international horizons by hosting a foreign student for about three months during the 2026-27 school year can contact Rotarian Michael Shepherd via email: paroshep@gmail.com or by visiting this website: https://www.youthexchange5100.org/host-family/

“A good way for parents to ease into the idea of sending their daughter or son to be hosted abroad is to host a student from one of these countries for three months as a part of their own family,” Shepherd said.

The Rotary Youth Exchange program is operated by a district of 64 clubs in Southwest Washington and northern Oregon. The program has sent and received thousands of students via the exchange over the past 40 years.