Congratulations to Carrie Nicole Berkstresser for being chosen as a student ambassador in the People to People Australia Boomerang Program. She will visit Australia this summer to learn about that country's government, people, and cultural history and to share that knowledge when she returns home to Deatsville, AL. Carrie B. needs the family's help, though, to make this great journey. Any assistance would be appreciated!

Carrie is the daughter of Richard Kyle (Jr.) and Leigh Ann Lewis Berkstresser, granddaughter of Richard Kyle and Laurida Emily Albritton Berkstresser, and great-granddaughter of Walter Matthew and Caroline Johnson Albritton (Uncle Walter and Aunt Caroline).

For more information, read Carrie B.'s letter below. Also, here is a wonderful Power Point presentation that she created herself about her trip a while back to California. Check it out!

Again, congratulations, Carrie! We know you will represent your state and your family well in Australia!

Dear Family & Friends,

I was recently recommended and accepted to participate as a student ambassador for Alabama in the People to People Australia Boomerang Program this summer from June 6th through 22nd. During this seventeen day adventure I will visit Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and Cairns. Activities will include visits to the Sydney Opera House and the New Parliament House to learn about their system of government and political history. I will also go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, be part of an outdoor service project, visit with local Aboriginal people, and explore museums and national parks in the Australian outback and wilderness. I will have the opportunity to spend two nights with an Australian family and actually go to school with students from the family.

I am currently asking my family and friends for financial sponsorship to help me with tuition, and I hope I can count on your support. President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded People to People in 1956. He believed that if people from different cultures could come together in peace and friendship, so eventually would nations. I have also been endorsed and recommended for this trip by Governor Bob Riley.

People to People student ambassadors are carefully evaluated before their acceptance into the program. I am an honor student in the 8th grade at Holtville Middle School. My family and I are active members of Mt. Hebron Baptist Church and I am an active member of the youth group participating in many mission projects and activities. I am also an assistant to the Wednesday night Mission Friends program. I am excited to share my experience with my peers, family, and friends when I return. As a student leader I can earn high school credit because of the many educational elements in my program.

The program tuition is $7239 which includes meals, transportation, accommodations, and educational activities. Is it possible for you to assist me by making a contribution?

Please show your support by sending a donation to Carrie Berkstresser at 316 Lewis Road, Deatsville, AL 36022. If you have any questions please call 334-569-0910. Thank you in advance for your gracious consideration and support.

Sincerely yours,

Carrie Nicole Berkstresser

Student Ambassador