The Spirit team loves to visit our Summer Work Travel participants and Host Employers! This summer, we made a few visits to Wisconsin – our lively neighbor to the North! Our goal was to visit as many participants and Host Employers as we could, while taking appropriate COVID precautions.
With our home base in Illinois, it was easy for our staff members to take a drive up to our key J-1 host communities in Wisconsin. Throughout the month of August, we sent representatives to visit Wisconsin Dells, Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Minocqua. Our participants are having a great time in The Badger State, and it was exciting to hear about their experiences firsthand.
Here’s a little bit about our travels in Wisconsin and what our team has been up to:
Wisconsin Dells
We kicked off our Wisconsin Tour in the bustling J-1 community and “Waterpark Capital of the World” – the Wisconsin Dells. In true Wisconsin spirit, our “meet and greet” event took place at a local Culver’s. Chelsea and Gloria spent the afternoon prepared with Spirit swag and free tokens that could be used for up to $5 of custard. Gloria also delivered ice cream to our participants at a nearby Host Employer!
Our participants have certainly been busy this summer, and we got to hear about activities like day trips to Madison and shopping for amazing deals at the nearby Outlets at The Dells. At the end of the day, Chelsea and Gloria met participants representing the Dominican Republic, Turkey, and Thailand.
Austin, one of our Wisconsin state representatives, also made a trip to the Dells to meet our Host Employers. It was great meeting a few participants who were at the worksite as well, including Suleyman from Turkey!
Austin and Suleyman at Moosejaw Pizza and Dells Brewing Co.
Milwaukee
The Home of the Bucks was the place to be this summer, and Julie had a great time visiting our Milwaukee participants and hearing about their experiences. They had some great conversations, and toward the end of the visit, Julie and a mixture of participants representing Colombia and Thailand walked to a local café for a Spirit-provided lunch and beverages.
The Colombian and Thai participants were very engaged with one another, and it was exciting to see the cross-cultural friendships that had been formed in Milwaukee this summer!
Spirit Participants with Julie at UW Milwaukee
Minocqua + Kenosha
Anna Marie started her Wisconsin road trip in Minocqua, WI, where she visited our participants and Host Employers. The local Trig’s grocery store held a barbeque event for all J-1 participants in the area. In addition to the barbeque, they took everyone fishing – a first for both our participants and Anna Marie!
Fishing in Minocqua
After leaving Minocqua, Anna Marie headed over to the city of Kenosha to meet with one of our newest Host Employers, as well as our Kenosha participants representing Azerbaijan and Colombia. She had a great time seeing Kenosha in person and experiencing some of what it has to offer!
Thank you to all participants and Host Employers for taking the time to meet with us!
To learn more about HOSTING Work and Travel participants, please visit https://www.spiritexchange.com/host/host-work-travel.
If you’d like to learn more about Spirit’s Work and Travel program, please visit https://www.spiritexchange.com/travel/work-travel-in-the-us.
Spirit Participants at UW Milwaukee
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