Pino featured in far left in photo above.
Meet Alejandro (Alex) Pelayo Pino ‘28, a Spanish exchange student who called Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School home for the 2025–2026 school year.
Pino’s journey to CJ began when his host mom, Erin Curney, the president of CJ’s Blue Green parent group, saw a Nextdoor post from an Education First coordinator seeking host families.
“We had a family member host an exchange student several years ago, and we thought that would be a fun experience for our family,” said Curney.
In August 2026, Pino arrived in Dayton from his hometown, Torrelodones, Spain. His first real encounter with CJ students was the English learners’ welcome party prior to the first day of school.
“I enrolled at CJ because my host brother, Sonny Curney ’27, was starting his junior year at CJ, so I went to the same school as him,” said Pino.
Pino said that at first the transition was difficult because he missed friends from his high school in Spain, but he quickly adjusted because the CJ community was so welcoming.
“I like that CJ is a great community that is always doing different events,” he said. “I made friends quickly.”
As with any change, there were some expected and unexpected adjustments.
“The biggest adjustments have been around food. In Spain, the food is not seasoned the same way that food is seasoned here, so that took a little time for Alex to adjust to,” said Curney.
A more expected adjustment came in figuring out the language barrier.
“When we said that we were cooking with spices, Alex thought that the food would be spicy. We have had to adjust some of the words and phrases we use. Although communication has been a bit of a challenge, with patience and translation tools, it has been an easily worked-around barrier,” said Curney.
The Curney family feels blessed to have had the opportunity to welcome Pino as a member of their family for the year.
“It has been great to have a new family member. Alex has come in and meshed with our family, almost seamlessly,” said Curney. “It was also rewarding to learn about another culture firsthand from him, and not just what you read in books or see on TV.”
From Curney’s perspective, the most rewarding experience by far is seeing the excitement in his eyes when Pino is introduced to something new. 
“Alex played tennis for the first time, made new friends, tried new food—macaroni and cheese is his favorite, and played new games like dominoes and spades,” said Curney. “At CJ, he participated in CJ’s performing arts with the build crew.”
“My favorite experience at CJ was when I participated in Alice in Wonderland,” Pino said.
Another new opportunity Pino experiences was a chance to travel.
“It has been great being able to share some of our favorite things with him,” said Curney. “We traveled and explored new cities, like New Orleans, Louisiana, and Cozumel and Yucatan in Mexico. Together, we got to see one of the Wonders of the World, Chichén Itzá!
Curney encourages other families to consider becoming host families.
“The students in the exchange program are just looking for new experiences, no matter how big or little,” said Curney. “Anybody who can provide a bed, three meals a day, and a lot of love can be a host parent! Being able to learn about another culture, while also sharing ours, has been wonderful.”
“Our advice for those considering it would be—if you are able to, then do it. After reviewing the students’ program profiles, we selected Alex because his interests closely matched ours. It has also been extremely helpful that our son and Alex are close in age and have gotten along great,” she said. “They are brothers now.”
