Our First Orientation Meeting

Our first orientation meeting was Saturday, December 4th. It was great to see everyone, well, almost everyone, together.

After Blake and I introduced ourselves, we asked you to put yourselves in alphabetical order by first names.

Once that was done, everyone told us their name, what school they attended, and something they were looking forward to on our itinerary...

We started with Z...Zoe...Well, Zoe couldn't tell us anything. She lives in New York, New York...and since there was no wireless service in the forum room of the library, we couldn't SKYPE like planned.
Zachary...
Victoria...
Victoria...
Tisha...
Taylor...
Sophia...
Schuyler...
Sebastian...
Nick...

Megan...
Matthew...
Michaela...
Morgan...
Marci...
KT...
Kiara...
Kate...
Kirsten...
Jose
Jamie...
Isley...
Gabe...
Chelsea...
Cooper...
Charli...
Chad...
Carmen...
Ashley...
Angelica...
Aly...
Ally...
Abby...
Jonas...


Once the introductions were made, Blake talked about the purpose of orientation meetings. Following this, we divided into groups to talk about what an ambassador is...what a student ambassador is. Some groups wrote an acrostic poem...others made a coat of arms:













These were great, especially considering the short amount of time we had to write them.

We took a break to have some snacks (and sign up to bring snacks at later meetings) and visit with the other delegates and parents.

What is involved with receiving academic credit was discussed next. The directions for accessing the OnBoard site and doing the online tests was given, along with the assignments to be done by the next meeting.

A handout on the background of People to People was given. This needs to be read by our next meeting on January 15th. It's important to know the history behind the program we're all involved with.

Blake then told us about the importance of knowing about the history of our own country...how our government works...who holds different positions within our government. It's a fact that many people outside of our country often know more than the average American about America! We don't want to be in that situation.
Blake talking about civics...
The delegates then put themselves into groups of 3...with 2 people they didn't know. Their directions--to write a haiku about being an ambassador...
Nick, Gabe, and Rhiannon wrote:

Exploring places
Meeting new cultures with friends
We return smarter

Matthew, Cooper, and Isley wrote:

Fighting ignorance
Constructing lasting friendships
Making memories

Chad, Jose, and Schuyler wrote:

Australia sounds

like fun with the native folk
We will all have fun

Kiara , Charli, and Melissa wrote:

Going on a trip
to represent the United States
Learning about countries

Marci, Sophia, and Zachary wrote:

Exploring new lands
Traveling across borders
New things are waiting

Sebastian and Morgan wrote:

We go cool places
To learn about new cultures
And increase knowledge

Victoria, Michaela, and Kate wrote:

New experience
will give you life-long friendships
blissful memories

Tisha, KT, and Jonas wrote:

Going far away
Can't wait to meet new people
40 new friends YAY!

Ashley, Taylor, and Ally wrote:

Ambassadors are
representing our country
through good leadership

Megan, Aly, and Jamie wrote:

We are traveling
To a place unknown to us
to swim with fish

Carmen, Abby, and Chelsea wrote:

Going to a place
Where they have funny accents
Hope I don't get lost

Victoria, Angel, and Kirsten wrote:

People to People
Allowing us to explore
and learn so much more

I hope you all learned a lot, met some new friends, and enjoyed our first meeting!

I'll see you again on January 15th!