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Three weeks can seemingly provide a lifetime of experience for People to People participants.

Hanover County Public Schools is well represented by faculty and students in world travels.

Virginia Palmen, a library media specialist at Lee-Davis High School, is among the faculty enjoying what she calls a “travel adventure.”

The year was 2007 when a friend, Debbie Munchel, also a Lee-Davis teacher, referred Virginia to the program. They were joined by Scott Joyner in applying and becoming involved with People to People.

“It is an adventure; it’s educational,” Virginia said. “We do a lot with culture and history.” Students can get high school and/or college credit for participating.

In order to make the trip, students raise money through food sales and car washes. “There are also student scholarships they can apply for,” Virginia said.

A People to People program normally runs three weeks.

The local group, Virginia said, has visited Italy, France, Greece, Malta, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Austria, Germany, Australia and Japan. “You typically go to three or four countries in each program.”

This year, Virginia and Scott were heading to Greece, Italy and France, while Debbie was going to the Galapagos Islands.

Leaders undergo training, which includes becoming CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) certificated. They also are trained to handle escalated security issues.

“We have to learn about the countries we’re going to,” Virginia said. “We meet approximately once a month to prepare students for travel.” Lessons will spotlight history, geography, culture, food, religion and daily life.

With People to People, the students participate in a community service project before they leave, as well as abroad. “It could range from planting trees in a rain forest to volunteering at school,” she added.

Since she has been a part of the program, Virginia said the community service projects have focused on agricultural issues. They have cleared land for a project that involved natural foods production on an organic farm.

Activities cross the spectrum of interests to include touring the Louvre, going to the Eiffel Tower, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and rappelling down a castle wall in England.

The latter was, Virginia said, “scary as heck. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” She also has enjoyed whitewater rafting in Ireland. That experience was described as “just awesome.”

Another high point in Virginia’s travels was walking across the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia. She also has hiked Mount Fiji and Mt. Aetna and walked the streets of Pompeii. Those three are among her “big highlights.”

A typical group will have as many as 40 students, with one teacher per 10 students.

Because of People to People, Virginia said the faculty can watch the students “change their perspective to mature to grow personally.” Before they go, she said they have to think of a personal characteristic they want to improve and submit that as their first entry in a travel journal. “We give them examples like ‘I want to be more outgoing,’ ‘I want to be more of a leader,’ ‘I want to be a good role model for others.’ And then we tell them to write an entry in their journal about that particular quality and throughout the travel experience to try to work on that characteristic and then when we get back we ask them to reflect.”

She said a change is especially seen in students that may be shy or a little withdrawn at the end of the three-week program.

“I remember one girl in particular,” Virginia said. “When we had our reunion gathering, her mother came up to me and said, ‘My daughter was shy and belonged to very few clubs that year. After she came back, she said, Mom, I want to be in this club and this club, but not only do I want to be in the club, I want to be the president.’ She just couldn’t believe the change in her daughter. You see, a lot of students move from student to young adult because of the experience.”

While they travel, they also encounter other People to People groups, leading to “lifelong friendships with students from other communities in Virginia or from communities in other states.”

The People to People organization has programs for students from the fifth through 12th grades.

Virginia said the connection made with the students does not end when they return to the United States. “We have a reunion gathering and I stay in contact through e-mail with several students and I get Christmas cards every year. I write recommendation letters for college applications frequently.”

Personally, Virginia said, “This has been an opportunity for me that I wouldn’t have had because my husband isn’t an adventure traveler. He said ‘Thank goodness for People to People’ to fill in where he’s not willing. You wouldn’t catch him walking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge or rappelling down a castle.”

“It has been awesome – it really has. We wake up typically at 6 o’clock and we stay on the go until after dinnertime. It’s non-stop. We sleep on the bus sometimes, going from one place to another.”

When she has visited Australia, it is winter there, so the group has been able to stay in resorts since it was not the tourist season. “We’ve stayed on farms. Most of the hotels, I would say, are average to above average hotels.”

While on their journey, the students usually spend two nights with a family so they can learn more about daily life in that particular country. Virginia said that also enables them the opportunity to experience typical meals and activities that families would participate.

For more information on People to People, contact Virginia Palmen at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Next year, she will be spearheading a group of students traveling to Costa Rica. They will conduct a school supply drive and deliver supplies to Costa Rice as part of the community service activity for summer 2011.