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Schools

Students to Travel as People to People Ambassadors

Areal Lewis of Corley Elementary School in Lawrenceville, Ga. and Alexis Seith of Chattahoochee Elementary School in Duluth to travel with People to People to Europe in June.

Imagine being 11-years-old and traveling to Europe without your parents. Well, two local fifth-grade students, Areal Lewis, 11, and Alexis Seith, 11, are about to get that opportunity.

Lewis, a student at Corley Elementary School in Lawrenceville, and Seith, a student at Chattahoochee Elementary School in Duluth, will be traveling to France and England this summer with the People to People Student Ambassador program.

Andrea Witt of Duluth is the delegation leader and one of the teacher chaperones.

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About 40 students travel in a group with teacher chaperones, a tour guide, and driver for this 13-day adventure in early June.

“I think it’s great that the kids get to do things a regular tourist wouldn’t get to do,” said Witt, who had traveled as a delegation leader for the past three years on trips to Europe, Australia and Canada. This year, while in London, the students will go to a Shakespearian acting class, meet a member of the Parliament, and spend a day with British students. That experience gives both American and British school kids a great chance to see the world through the eyes of their peers across the Atlantic.

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“I’m super excited and incredibly honored to be chosen to go on this trip,” said Seith. “I am most excited about seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum.”

Lewis said she's looking forward to visiting the Eiffel Tower and London’s Big Ben. But it’s not just the big things she's interested in learning more about, but also the small change in her pocket. “I learned that in some countries the money is way different than in the United States,” she said.

The Itinerary is meant to be both educational and fun.

In France, the students will visit all the major sites, including the Louvre, Le Sacre-Coeur, and Normandy. And while learning is a big part of the trip, it’s strictly fun on the agenda for one day, when they visit Disneyland Paris.

In England, besides the visit with a member of Parliament and British students, they’ll also visit Stonehenge, Bath, Oxford, Warwick Castle, and the London Eye.

“I love this program. It’s probably been the greatest thing to happen to me,” said Jone Cross, an assistant principle at Chattahoochee Elementary. Cross, a former Georgia Area director for People to People for 17 years, now is on the board of directors for the People to People Scholarship Foundation.

“I’ve been to all seven continents with People to People,” she said. “Your world view changes when you have these experiences; your appreciation and pride in being an American is also enhanced.”

“The trip that had the most impact was the trip to South Africa,” said Cross.  “[Not just] how beautiful it is in Africa, but how limited the educational resources are. A child is given a pencil, and that’s their pencil for the year.”  Cross is now fundraising for a People to People international community service project to build a library in Costa Rica.

She also was impressed with the Chinese. "China was extraordinary to me," she said. "Most people have so little in material possessions, people are connected to each other and happy, it's not about stuff."

The People to People program was started in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a cultural exchange program to ease Cold War tensions. Comedian Bob Hope and Walt Disney were two of the founding directors. The program gave Disney the idea for the "It’s a Small World" attraction at his theme parks.

Students must be nominated by a teacher to be eligible for the trip, then they provide three letters of recommendation. Once they’re accepted, they go to monthly meetings where they prepare for the trip. That includes everything from how to pack their suitcase to what a British pound or French Euro looks like. 

These meetings also give the students a chance to get to know their travel mates and bone up on the history and politics of the destinations. Finally, they learn helpful travel tips, like how to stay safe and about the social manners of the places they’ll visit. 

Some of the young adults making the trip are called "student ambassadors," chosen because of their all-around personality and academic skills. Others are considered "leadership ambassadors" because of their involvement in the student council or student governments. Finally, there are "sports ambassadors" selected because of their athletic accomplishments. 

The trips are expensive and usually paid for by the parents, although there are many scholarships available and fundraising help provided.   

Headquartered in Spokane, WA, the Motto of People to People is "Peace Through Understanding." Its mission is to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange, making the world a better place for future generations.

The program accepts students in the fifth through twelfth grades, and the itineraries include all seven continents. In older grades students are eligible for some of the more challenging destinations like China, Japan, Australia, Africa, India, Greece, and the Galapagos Islands.  

More than 500,000 students have already traveled with People to People. Its website is http://www.peopletopeople.com/OurPrograms/SAP/Pages/default.aspx

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