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Rush City girl returns from trip Down UnderBy Barbara Brown Jamie Scheffer earned a trip down under after she proved her self an academic stand-out. The federal program ìPeople to Peopleî was started in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to encourage peaceful relationships between American children and others around the world. Jamie, who will enter seventh grade in the fall at Rush City High School, received a letter from the People to People program offering her the chance to serve as a student ambassador to Australia and New Zealand for 16 days. She was nominated through her status as an Academic All-Star along with several other Rush City students. Jamie said she was the only one from the district that followed through. She joined 43 other students from Minnesota and headed to New Zealand where she spent the first eight days of her trip learning about native lifestyles. The group spent two days, including an overnight sleep over, with native Maori people who showed the group about how they live and taught them about their traditions. Jamie got to try her hand at the boomerang, but found she wasnít very successful. ìI didnít do too good,î she said. ìIt just went on the ground right in front of me.î Spending July 4 in Australia was not dampened by being far from home, Jamie said. The bus driver and tour guide let the group sing patriotic songs and the entire group wore red, white and blue for a picture in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney Harbor. Jamieís favorite part of the trip, she said, was seeing the Great Barrier Reef on a snorkeling adventure. She said she hopes to achieve alumni status with People to People, which would make her eligible to take trips to other parts of the world each summer. ©ECM Post Review |