|
|
FEATURES
“I’m the only person who went to Australia from District 3,” Fincher explained. From June 21 – July 5, Fincher embarked on a journey across the world, joined by 25 students from Colorado, and 16 from California for a total of 41 students. It took 14 hours to get there, with a bit of a temporal hiccup as they crossed the international date line, causing the group to skip June 22 entirely, and experience two July 5th’s. The group flew from DIA to LAX and straight on to Sydney, Australia. Fincher’s favorite experience was spending a day visiting an Australian class in Sydney. The students colored pictures about the Australian gold rush and made a book, which the class gave to their American guests. They visited the coastal city of Cairns in northern Queensland, getting to cuddle koalas and snorkel above the Great Barrier Reef, where Fincher saw two green sea turtles. “We went on a night walk and we saw sugar gliders, flying foxes (giant bats) and dingo tracks,” Fincher related. She believes others can benefit from world travel by meeting people in their own country, face to face. She thinks it is a way to learn to respect for other cultures. Fincher’s mother is Melanie, and she has a 6 year old sister, Andrea, who missed Alex terribly during her absence. Retired teacher and Great Aunt Vi Cribbs, Denver, generously funded half the trip, and encouraged the family to let Alex take the journey. Grandparents Judy and Luke Fincher also helped provide funds. “We really are proud of her,” said Alex’s other grand-mother, Loretta Gores. “She’s very polite and very thoughtful. When she got this, we were just delighted.” Fincher’s plans for the future? “I want to go to Japan,” she said. On September 11, 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded People To People International (PTPI). It was called the President’s People to People Program. PTPI has a variety of worldwide educational exchange programs. For more information visit http://www.ptpi.org
|
