Funny you should ask. My 15 year old DD just got the same thing and I was just opening the envelope while reading this. I haven't read it yet. She has and of course they think they should go. No way at her age. I'm going to go read it now.

My dd is 11 and a fifth grader..NO WAY is she leaving for 19 days!
Of course she wants to go.................sorry, not happening. Unless grandma and grandpa go. lol

This might help.

Here is a link that might be useful: people to people student Ambassadors

Looks like a student overseas travel program....sort of like a summer cap experience.

I'm sure it's far, far from free.

My DD went when she was 15 (she was the youngest girl in her group). She got to spend 3 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, doing all sorts of wonderful things - sledding down a sand dune, doing the bridgewalk, swam with dolphins, snorkled in the great barrier reef and a host of other fun and/or educational activities. There are quite a few adult (teachers) who go along to chaperone. The kids are left to themselves at times (several in my DD's group got tongue piercings!), but otherwise are watched pretty closely.

It cost us about $5000 (DD raised some money by collecting used cell phones). It seems expensive, but everything is included (except souvenirs). I was glad we sent her, it truly was a once in a lifetime experience.

I also had a niece that went and a friend's DD. All had a good experience and they all would do it again!

I have heard good things about it - the kids that have gone have loved it - but the cost! Whoo!!

I generally won't give any money for it - I figure I will put that towards my own kids' vacations. We try to travel with the kids -so they get to see some pretty neat stuff.

If a kid never gets to go anywhere - it might be a good thing.

My kids get the letters all the time and I just pitch them. They get the "Student Ambassador" and "Sports Ambassador" ones.

I'd like to know who gave them their names and addresses - I wonder if someone gets a kickback off of that. It makes it sound like your kid is the most special student/athelete on the face of the earth (and they are!) - but...well..., LOL!

I'd like to know who gave them their names and addresses - I wonder if someone gets a kickback off of that. Other student ambassadors and teachers nominate them. P2P is non-profit, nobody gets anything for nominating anyone. They do make the kids seem kind of special getting nominated, but in reality.. pretty much anybody can go with a couple references.

Bobby got one of those in the mail this week also. He was so excited until I told him it cost too much and he wasn't going. Threw it in the garbage.

Toni - This topic came up here a few months ago with mixed feedback.

My daughter went in 1995, the summer after her freshman year of high school. She had been nomimated by one of her classmates who had been on several P to P trips (China, Australia, Europe). She was interested in going and I thought it would be a good experience for her. She spent 27 days traveling through Spain, France and the high light of her trip was the week long home stay with a wonderful family in Germany.

P to P is by no means unique but it does try to sound somewhat exclusive by saying you need to be nominated. I think now you can even go on their web site and request an application. At one time it was more restrictive but I think there's more competition now so they've opened it up. The price was on a par with trips to Europe my sons had taken while in high school. Now there are so many other opportunities for students to travel. There are many service oriented trips too where the students perform volunteer work in poor areas. Several of the churchs in our town do this on an annual basis usually traveling to poorer areas of the US.

There were several factors in our decision to allow her to go. It was a unique opportunity for her to travel to Europe and while it was expensive we could afford to send one child. We couldn't afford to take our entire family of 5 and travel that extensively for 3 1/2 weeks. Plus my husband wouldn't be able to take that much time off. My daughter is on the shy side and we hoped this would help her self confidence. Initially she didn't know any of the other students on the trip but she came home with many new friends. They were responsible for their own luggage and keeping track of the different departures, meal times, tours etc.

My husband isn't a great traveler and we may never make it to Europe. But I wanted my children to have the opportunity.

Thanks everyone for your input. I thought we might have had this topic here before. I too think for the right child, this would be the opportunity to do something totally awesome. We might even consider it if DD was 15 or 16.- Already at 11 she seems capable of being on her own but of course I'M not ready for her to do something for so long at this young age. Funny though to see her so gung ho for a trip to Ireland, Wales, England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. My goodness, those poor chaparones would be wiped out just keeping up with all the wash!

McMann, your last two paragraphs could be my life. DH took 8 days off in July but I know he was ready to get back to work. I guess I was too. I kinda doubt we'll be going to Europe anytime soon.
DS took two trips this summer without us. I'm glad he went although he always came back with a short beard. OMG, I was embarrassed because one of the trips required business dress everyday and my ds doesn't resemble Don Johnson in a suit,,at all. At least though, he came back with some good experiences and a closer relationship with his trip mates. He is 17 though, old enough to find his way around alone.

I suppose if this opportunity comes up again in a few years, dd might be able to go. It sounds like a good time to me.

My daughter, now well past 40, spent a year in Hamburg with a civil engineer and family, making several trips to various areas in Europe plus some to N. Africa, when she was something like a junior in High School. I think that the sponsor was Kiwanis Student Exchange.

Though she was rather outgoing earlier, my feeling is that it helped her develop a number of other interests in life, wider horizons and facets to her personality, plus helped her develop her German to the place where a recent immigrant from Germany thought that she'd learned it at home.

Her Ontario/Saskatchewan-raised father Nein sprachen zie Deutsch (her Iowa/New York-raised mother, either).

ole joyful

My DD participated in the high school level P2P program, Europe last summer, Japan this summer. Every bit as wonderful as the literature promises.

If you're not ready to send your DD now (11 would have been too early for my DD, too), maybe set a goal of her traveling with them sometime in high school? One thing we didn't realize right away was how many "delegations" there are. If there is a country that particularly fascinates your DD, it's quite possible that she could arrange to join a delegation going there -- you don't necessarily have to travel with your local delegation.

My cousins daughter just got back from one...

She is 15. They don't have much supervision. The house she was put in, she had to sleep in the same room with the grandma...who slept nude. No airconditioning, so the grandma didn't use blankets or sheets to cover herself.

When they were in the hotels the shut the water off at night so there were no showers or using the bathroom at night.

What I have gathered from all of it is that the names are sent out to lots and lots of students...making them think they are being honored to have been asked. It costs a lot of money .

Personally I think it is a money making thing.

Although she did get to see a lot of places she might never get the chance to see again...

patti

She is 15. They don't have much supervision. The house she was put in, she had to sleep in the same room with the grandma...who slept nude. No airconditioning, so the grandma didn't use blankets or sheets to cover herself. All the students are able to make a phone call to a chaperone and go elsewhere if their host family makes them uncomfortable or if they do not feel safe. They use a 'code phrase' so that the hosting family's feeling don't get hurt. My DD stayed just two nights with a Australian family and she really enjoyed it (no nude sleepers lol).

What country did your cousin's DD go to Patti?

Lydia..she went to Paris and surrounding areas.