In 1999 Debbie Avey founded Ace International as a high school foreign exchange program to bring French students to the United States for homestays with local families. A program that started with 15 students the first year, has now grown up to 500 students per year. Ace’s program features a strong focus on cultural exploration, as well as hospitality and tourism. For host families, most of which are from Oceanside and Vista, Ace’s homestay program provides exposure to French culture and an opportunity to make lifetime friendships. What began as an endeavor for fun, friendship and cultural discovery, has since developed into internship offerings for the French students. Ace International recently placed one of their interns, Maxime (Max) Koch, at the Oceanside Chamber. Max, a 20 year old student from France who recently completed his second internship through Ace, has made four additional trips to the United States because of his love for the country and the relationships he has built through his first high school exchange at the age of 16 and his current internships at the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

Ace’s outreach has continued to expand and develop as Avey’s passion for fine arts and performing arts led to the creation of Three Strands Productions (TSP), the Performing Arts Division of ACE International. Three Strand Productions is about “all things performing arts and fine arts”, says Avey.

Avey’s real estate office, Staged Home Real Estate in Downtown Vista, acts as the platform for this division. It is an immaculately decorated centerpiece for the performing and fine arts community, and serves as a discount retail showroom for local artists to display their creative works in a home like setting. “Staged Homes Real Estate is the glue that holds it all together”, noted Avey.

The focus of Three Strands is to provide an avenue for local artists to share their passion with students, while being compensated for teaching the classes. A 6-week certificate program has been created to allow students to hone their skills in a variety of areas including sign art, iron works, photography, videography, painting and music to name a few.

Since arts have been largely removed from the public schools, Avey sees this program as a way to bring performing and fine arts back to the community at a higher level than ever before. The 6-week certification is just a beginning. “Our long term goal will be to create a degree program where local students can earn an AA degree in dance, music and a variety of arts.” Avey sees talent in the arts as a natural gifting that needs to be fostered. “At least 40% of students have a natural bent toward the arts”, said Avey. “We want to see these students have an opportunity to make a living doing what they are passionate about.” Three Strands Productions is a much needed stepping stone toward that goal.

The internet is providing a huge step toward this goal also, as it allows students to immediately showcase their talents to a worldwide audience.

Three Strands Productions currently has a call out to local artists who have achieved mastery level in their respective fields and are passionate about sharing their knowledge with students to teach these courses.

For more information on Ace International and Three Strand Productions, visit their website at www.aceinternational.us.