|
Evans looks forward to People to People trip |
|
Sunday, 26 April 2009 |
 By Leslie Mielke
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
SHELLEY — Janet Evans, seventh grade geography teacher at Hobbs Middle School in Shelley, will travel to Japan with the organization, People to People Ambassador Programs.
She will chaperone 12 students for two weeks from July 20 to Aug. 3.
Evans teaches geography in the eastern hemisphere — Europe, Asia and Africa.
Evans has chaperoned students to Taiwan and President Obama’s inauguration with the People to People.
“The inauguration was awesome,” Evans said. “It was massive wall-to-wall people.”
Teachers recommend students to participate in People to People, Evans said.
The program wants students who are really interested and want to learn, she said. “The trips are pricey; students must work really hard to get participate.”
Evans estimates the Japan trip costs about $8,000 per student.
Evans will chaperone 12 students in Japan. Shelley High School student Rachel Berchltold will be one of the students she chaperones.
Shelley eighth grader Kaydee Mickelsen who will also travel to Japan with a group of students her age. Mickelsen will be chaperoned by a teacher from Idaho Falls. Both groups will travel to Japan on the same dates.
As part of the Japan trip, students will live with families in Japan for three days, Evans said.
Evans has worked with People to People for three or four years.
“This is all to make me a better teacher,” Evans said. “When I talk about Taiwan or China, I know about the country because I was there.”
She said, “I have experienced walking down a street with cars traveling down it, surrounded by tall buildings, knowing that a block away are slums and dirt roads.”
People to People was started in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Evans said Eisenhower felt that if people could meet face to face and get acquainted, they would gain a greater appreciation for each other and would quit fighting.
This June, Evans will also chaperone a group of students to Harvard University for a week as they explore the campus and learn about the university.
“I hope to get to Europe someday,” Evans said.
“Everyone should get to Europe before they die,” she said. “Isn’t that a rule someplace?”
Evans is married. She has three children and three grandchildren. “My grandkids love all the trinkets I bring back from my trips,” she said.
She graduated from Ricks and ISU. She has a B. A. in elementary education with an emphasis in social studies, geography and reading. She has taught at Hobbs Middle School for 14 years.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 May 2009 )
|
