Hometown USA Campus
Hometown USA is located on a 100-acre Audubon Center in Sandstone, Minnesota. This unique location, which includes a number of wildlife exhibits, gives the English language camp a fun nature and outdoors theme.
Rooming
Villagers stay in dorm rooms with 5-6 other students and a counselor. Dorm rooms have their own private bathrooms and showers, and all bathrooms are clean and modern.
Food
At Hometown USA, even meal time is an opportunity for learning. Students take turns helping out in the dining hall, setting the tables and presenting the food. Meals are served family style, and while all conversation is in English, the counselors are on hand to guide the villagers during meals.
Word among villagers is that the food is delicious! Villagers’ taste buds will be tempted by pizza, hot dogs, fresh vegetables, macaroni and cheese, and fish and chips. The skilled chefs prepare all of the wholesome foods from scratch, and can accommodate most dietary restrictions, allergies, or other special dietary needs.
Facilities
Set on the shore of a quiet lake, all of our buildings are modern, air-conditioned and comfortable.
The English language camp is constructed with an impressive amount of environmental staging to simulate everyday American life so that students can become familiar with real-life situations. For example, there is a Village Store where students can purchase items while practicing their language and counting skills.
Staff
The administrators, managerial staff, support staff and some Village deans are year-round employees who work in Concordia Language Village’s administrative office in Moorhead, St. Paul or the year-round offices in Bemidji, MN.
The deans are the head of each Village. Most deans are summer employees with full-time jobs elsewhere during the school year; they live across the country and around the world. All summer camp staff members attend one week of intense orientation before assuming their Village responsibilities. Teaching techniques, health and safety concerns, Concordia Language Villages’ policies and counseling skills are covered during this week.
CIEE staff consists of a program administrator who connects with overseas representatives and families to enroll participants in Hometown USA. CIEE promotes the program and supports the participants while they are attending Hometown USA.