September 7, 2006

At Your Service

Almaden students walk a mile in Australian kids’
shoes as People to People Ambassadors

By Julie Davis Berry
Executive Editor

It is said that the best way to understand people is to walk a while in their shoes. Over summer break, 30 Bay area pre-teens crossed the international dateline to do just that.

The 30 lucky students included five from Almaden: Laura Jacques (Bret Harte Middle School), Noel Lines (Sandcastle Academy), Katie Kupec (Graystone Elementary), Cole Brady (Castillero Middle School) and Kaitlyn Robson (Dartmouth Middle School). They returned home with memories that will last a lifetime such as digging for Thunder Eggs, learning to throw and actually catch boomerangs, playing Aborigine didgeridoos, visiting native classrooms, hopping with kangaroos, touching crocodiles and cuddling koala bears.

Theirs was an adventure nearly a year in the making, one that took them across the world to the land down under, where firsthand lessons in life on a farm, native rituals, hikes into the rain forest, snuggling with koalas and crocodiles, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef—even school dress codes—came with a healthy dose of reality. In addition to the excitement of discovering a foreign country, it meant packing their own bags, washing their own laundry, taking their own pictures, exchanging their own currency and yes, the biggest lesson of all, budgeting.

They were the latest contingent of student ambassadors selected to represent their communities and their country through a program started in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a way to increase cultural awareness around the globe. He believed that ordinary citizens of different nations, if able to communicate directly, would be more likely to solve their differences and find a way to live in peace. He then put those beliefs into action and created People to People Ambassador Programs.
 
In the 50 years since it began, eight U.S. presidents have followed in Eisenhower’s footsteps and served as honorary chairman of People to People International, including John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford. Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, while student delegations journeyed to 34 countries on every continent around the world.

Kristofer Misch poses in front of Sydney’s famed Opera House.

Walt Disney created the “It’s a Small World” attraction in 1964 after his participation in the People to People International White House conference.

Life down under
The 30 lucky students included five from Almaden: Laura Jacques (Bret Harte Middle School), Noel Lines (Sandcastle Academy), Katie Kupec (Graystone Elementary), Cole Brady (Castillero Middle School) and Kaitlyn Robson (Dartmouth Middle School). They returned home with memories that will last a lifetime such as digging for Thunder Eggs, learning to throw and actually catch boomerangs, playing Aborigine didgeridoos, visiting native classrooms, hopping with kangaroos, touching crocodiles and cuddling koala bears.

Student George Sakkas enjoys an encounter with a kangaroo.

Graystone Elementary School student Katie Kupec said she enjoyed meeting the Aussies firsthand and loved holding a koala bear and petting a kangaroo. She told her mom, Mimi, that while the kids are similar to American kids they do have some interesting slang words. Breakfast is brecky and at the pool the kids wore cossies and boardies instead of swimsuits.

Cole Brady said one of the best days for him was the day an Australian student taught him to play rugby. “Now I want to find a league to play in here,” said the Castillero Middle School student. He also loved learning how to “hold” a boomerang so that it would come back—and was happily surprised that it worked!

They also mustered up the nerve to try the Aussie staple vegemite, which is as common to Aussie kids as peanut butter is to American kids. "It was awful!" said Cole, "It tasted like pure salt!"

Almaden’s Noel Lines said the best part of the trip for him was seeing the Blue Mountains. “It was so cool to glide across the valley on the skyway seeing all kinds of trees in different shades of green,” said Noel.

The school they visited was an indigenous school, which means that it had both Aussies and Aboriginal kids. They played a game of tag called tiggy and instead of saying “you’re it” they say “you’re in.” Some other differences that stood out to Noel were the fact that when you purchase something there the price tag already has the tax figured into the price and that they drive on the opposite side of the road. “Being in Australia helped me to understand the differences [better than reading about them in a book] because I got to experience them with all my five senses,” he said remarking that while it smelled the same as the good old USA the air was “a little thinner.”

Caitlyn Slavich takes a break from practicing throwing and retrieving boomerangs to pose with fellow Sunnyvale student Kristofer Misch.

All of the students were nominated either by their teachers, principals or by community leaders. Before embarking on the Student Ambassador Program, the 11- and 12-year-old boys and girls, along with family members, attended a series of orientation meetings designed to teach them about the history and culture of the Australian people, as well as important details surrounding the overseas experience—a trip that for most would be their first solo adventure.

All in all it was a great trip for the students and left them with many vivid memories of life down under. “I thought it was funny that the kids had to wear uniforms,” exclaimed student George Sakkas, “but they didn't have to wear shoes!”