People to People Student Ambassador Program

[j's m]

I know I'm a helicopter parent but isn't 10 years old a little young to be traveling outside the country with strangers?

My DS has also been receiving these offers for years, as well as all his friends.

 

[NYPDwife]

Found this on wiki - Interesting, not saying it makes me HAVE TO GET THE $$ SO SHE CAN GO, but interesing...

History


Eisenhower with the People to People committee in 1960.In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sought an alternative to the wars he witnessed as a soldier, general and Allied Commander. He called a White House conference of 100 of the top American leaders who joined him in creating the People to People initiative. One of the participants in this conference was Walt Disney, who became one of the founding directors of People to People and later drew inspiration from the People to People initiative to create the "It's a Small World" attraction in 1964

 

[clovergirl5]

Op, when dd went we asked only grandparents to chip in for her trip. They each chipped in $100.

While I do agree 10 is really young to travel outside the country...alot of parents let their kids do it. Its up to you and dh.

We only let dd who was almost 12 at the time, go to D.C. only if we were to be close by. That is why we made it a family trip. I know she wouldn't have done it if it was outside of the U.S. cause we wouldn't have been able to afford being there with her. And I wouldn't feel comfortable about her traveling at a young age outside the U.S. Thats us though. I don't begrudge any mom or dad who does, it just wasn't for us.
She was in a different hotel 30 min. away from where we stayed and we were able to see her for about 15 min each morning.
One of the highlights for her was being able to stay in a hotel room with no parents. She thought that was cool lol.

 

[Lisa_M]

My sister was offered this last year. She is a great student, but it does seem to be offered to anybody based on some secret recommendations that no one at her school made. I suspect it was because of the SAT's she took in 7th or 8th grade.

Anyway, my parents who are broke as a joke were like parrots for the brochure and special invitation only seminar. They were talked into placing a deposit on this trip that they couldn't afford (on a credit card no less) and when I was able to talk them out of this it took a MONTH to get their money back. I believe it was about $300 dollars. My mom still sugar coats it by saying the refund was "almost instant, about a month."

You could take your family on a trip like this for the cost involved and colleges don't care about this "accomplishment" regardless of what the people to people salesfolks tell you.

 

[clovergirl5]

Found this on wiki - Interesting, not saying it makes me HAVE TO GET THE $$ SO SHE CAN GO, but interesing...

History


Eisenhower with the People to People committee in 1960.In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sought an alternative to the wars he witnessed as a soldier, general and Allied Commander. He called a White House conference of 100 of the top American leaders who joined him in creating the People to People initiative. One of the participants in this conference was Walt Disney, who became one of the founding directors of People to People and later drew inspiration from the People to People initiative to create the "It's a Small World" attraction in 1964

Hmmm, I didn't know that. Thats cool. I knew Eisenhower is a big part of this program but not that Disney was involved.
Although, you might come across people saying that you can't belive Wiki.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

DD has got these letters for years and we chunk them in the trash.

I do remember a death of a student on a trip. Here, found this:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html
http://www.tylerhill.org/index.php/Left/Tylers-Story.html

I would not allow my 10 yr old to travel overseas with strangers. I would much rather take my own kids on these experiences.

 

[spacemountain]

Hi, I went with People to People to Brazil many years ago, I was 14 years old then, I believe. It was a really great, life-changing experience for me. I got the opportunity in high school to go on a couple different academic trips and the People to People trip prepared me for that. I was able to gain a lot of independence and believe it or not I still keep in touch with some friends that I made on that trip to this day. It's a great opportunity to learn about another culture and I'm sure your DD would really benefit from it. The program is very reputable and the adults who go along on the trip (we had 4 for about 40 students) are all teachers and they have done this many times before. You will also have someone from the country you are visiting travel with you the whole trip and he or she will help organize everything. The whole trip is very scheduled and structured. Also, I did a lot of fund raising for my trip. The cost of mine was only about $4000, I'm pretty sure, but my big fundraiser was that I held a raffle with donations I received from many local businesses. You can also write to corporations and ask if they will sponsor some of the cost.

Hope this helped, feel free to PM me if you have any questions

 

[NYPDwife]

DD has got these letters for years and we chunk them in the trash.

I do remember a death of a student on a trip. Here, found this:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html
http://www.tylerhill.org/index.php/Left/Tylers-Story.html

I would not allow my 10 yr old to travel overseas with strangers. I would much rather take my own kids on these experiences.

I was just finding these but haven't finished reading them.

 

[loveysbydesign]

it's a shame that more people don't do their homework and entrust their most precious child to strangers.

 

[allison443]

We were/are very proud when dd was nominated for this program as only 1 other was from her grade. Congrats to your dd and if she goes, Im sure she will have a great time.

fyi...like pp said, there is a thread covering this topic that was pretty recent.

You don't have to be "nominated", anyone can apply even if they weren't nominated.

People to People has been investigated in the past for using mailing lists for their nominations. They sent a "Congratulations, you've been nominated based on your excellent achievements" letter to the name of a child who died in infancy. After that they were supposed to fix their marketing practices. You can google for further info if you like.

I do know kids who went on PTP trips, and they enjoyed them. But I don't like that the company presents it as a big honor when it isn't. I also don't like the whole sponsorship/begging aspect.

 

[clovergirl5]

I found my folder with all the papers and stuff from PTP. I found the h.s. transferable credits...

It could be different with each trip location, but the trip to D.C. earns these h.s. credits..

1 elective trimester course equivalent to 55 classroom hrs. for Social Studies, American History/Government

In addition to the h.s. credit, all students receiving a passing evaluation from their facilitators will earn 10 service learning hours for Service learning/volunteerism. (this whole trip and meetings that dd was involved in, she was graded and received a certificate at the end. If you passed the "class", you receive these credits towards h.s.)

 

[allison443]

As for the question about whether this would impress colleges, having been through the application process twice recently, I would say no. All this shows is that the kid traveled. They are not really "ambassadors" in the sense of doing anything, kwim? It's not like they're having diplomatic meetings or anything.

I am all in favor of travel but there are other options to look at as well as PTP.
My dd went to Spain junior year in high school with a travel group and took a class at the University of Madrid for college credit. It was much much cheaper than PTP, even including the cost of the credits.

 

[clovergirl5]

Hi, I went with People to People to Brazil many years ago, I was 14 years old then, I believe. It was a really great, life-changing experience for me. I got the opportunity in high school to go on a couple different academic trips and the People to People trip prepared me for that. I was able to gain a lot of independence and believe it or not I still keep in touch with some friends that I made on that trip to this day. It's a great opportunity to learn about another culture and I'm sure your DD would really benefit from it. The program is very reputable and the adults who go along on the trip (we had 4 for about 40 students) are all teachers and they have done this many times before. You will also have someone from the country you are visiting travel with you the whole trip and he or she will help organize everything. The whole trip is very scheduled and structured. Also, I did a lot of fund raising for my trip. The cost of mine was only about $4000, I'm pretty sure, but my big fundraiser was that I held a raffle with donations I received from many local businesses. You can also write to corporations and ask if they will sponsor some of the cost.

Hope this helped, feel free to PM me if you have any questions

Thats great that you still keep in touch with your tripmates!
I agree, everything is VERY structured and scheduled. Glad you had fun. Do you plan on participating again as an alumni or in a facilitator role?

 

[TEENEE]

I really hate to see people who have not been involved in the program give their opinions. My ds went on a P2P trip to England and France when he was 12. Someone said that the kids don't interact with kids their own age on the trip, not true. My son stayed with a family in England for a few days and went to school with the boy he was staying with for one day. He got to see how other schools operate and how other people live. In France they went to Normandy and learned a lot while they were there. Normandy made a great impression on my ds. Was the trip expensive or even over priced? Yes, but it was worth every penny. The leaders that went with him were teachers and happened to be sisters. I was very confident in their ability to take care of my ds while they were away.

There are many meetings while the kids prepare for the trip. In each meeting the kids are taught something about they country they will be visiting and are required to do homework to prepare. In addition to the educational aspect of the meeting questions are answered regarding the trip.

 

[MichelleVW]

If you don't have the money, I would not consider it.

exactly

So you mean to tell me that if your child was given an opportunity to be a student ambassador, and something like this would look great on a college application, that you wouldn't give the whole sponsor thing a try? I'm not trying to go with her, I'm not trying to take a free trip to WDW, I'm trying to see if there's a possibility where my child could experience something that a lot of children don't. She works hard in school, she even got a scholarship to a private school this year and I don't see why I can't consider it.

My oldest has been on two People to People trips because we had the money (and she is incredibly spoiled ), but it didn't help her get into college. No way did we try to get "sponsors" that would have seemed like begging to me.

It's not just about traveling the world, but immersing with other students of a different culture. Besides, it's not just a family trip, but a trip with other educators and leaders and you're there to learn.

Honestly I don't know how much she "learned". She had a blast, she went to the UK and also Australia, and the only thing she learned was how much she loves to travel to expensive places!

I am not saying it is not a great learning experience. I am saying that if I did not have the money, my child would not be going for a 7000 trip.
That is outrageous.

Yep...

Sure a trip to Australia would be an awesome experience. But on YOUR dime, and even if your kid goes, you shouldn't put it on your college application.

yep again.

The other educators and leaders in my DN's case turned out to be 29 yo with more body piercings and tattoos then my DSis could stomach (and she is not opposed to tats). She was the oldest educator/leader. All the others were younger. Really, check into it. If you're still convinced it's a great program then start asking your friends and relatives to pay for it. It's your choice, not ours.

That's scary...when my DD went her leaders were respectable high school teachers.

 

[clovergirl5]

You don't have to be "nominated", anyone can apply even if they weren't nominated.
People to People has been investigated in the past for using mailing lists for their nominations. They sent a "Congratulations, you've been nominated based on your excellent achievements" letter to the name of a child who died in infancy. After that they were supposed to fix their marketing practices. You can google for further info if you like.

I do know kids who went on PTP trips, and they enjoyed them. But I don't like that the company presents it as a big honor when it isn't. I also don't like the whole sponsorship/begging aspect.

Yes, I am aware of that, it says it right in the info pack from PTP. If you read the other thread, I mentioned that

 

[allison443]

I found my folder with all the papers and stuff from PTP. I found the h.s. transferable credits...

It could be different with each trip location, but the trip to D.C. earns these h.s. credits..

1 elective trimester course equivalent to 55 classroom hrs. for Social Studies, American History/Government

In addition to the h.s. credit, all students receiving a passing evaluation from their facilitators will earn 10 service learning hours for Service learning/volunteerism. (this whole trip and meetings that dd was involved in, she was graded and received a certificate at the end. If you passed the "class", you receive these credits towards h.s.)

Who needs extra credits for high school? Also, are a lot of high schools on trimesters? None I know of use trimesters. So this might not work out. Also what are you going to show a college-I didn't take American History in high school but I went on a PTP trip?
Now college credits would definitely be worth something.

 

[dislaney]

It's not a unique opportunity and the colleges know that.

I totally agree. My child received this unique opportunity and knows quite a few friends who also received it. I do know someone who attended and enjoyed it but it is very expensive for what it is. I'd rather take my whole family on a similar trip but thats just my opinion.

 

[NYPDwife]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html

HOLY CRAP! That's scary.

 

[clovergirl5]

exactly



My oldest has been on two People to People trips because we had the money (and she is incredibly spoiled ), but it didn't help her get into college. No way did we try to get "sponsors" that would have seemed like begging to me.



Honestly I don't know how much she "learned". She had a blast, she went to the UK and also Australia, and the only thing she learned was how much she loves to travel to expensive places!


Yep...



yep again.



That's scary...when my DD went her leaders were respectable high school teachers.