We got a letter in the mail today that just left us laughing like crack addled loons.
It appears that our "fifth or sixth grader" has been invited to be a student ambassador to Australia.
We have been informed that our "10 or 11 year old daughter" would have the opportunity to assist in community projects, and interact with students, educators, and politicians.
Uh-huh.
So if we sent Ash would we have to put him in a dress? The imagination just runs amok at the thought of him "interacting" in the Australian political system! I cannot argue the community service. Exposing unsuspecting students, educators and politicians to our Ash, would be a community service for sure. It would surely give some first hand knowledge of the needs of a child with his abilities and limitations.
It's just that now I cannot get the image of him in a dress galloping sideways down the aisles of parliament flapping his elbows and singing in his language.
So good to know that they apparently just send these letters out at random with no thought at all as to who they are sending them to.
It's a lovely image. It made me smile ( ahard feat these days).
I'd almost be prepared to answer the letter in your terms and see how fast they back off. In these days of anti-discrimination and equal opportunities, what excuse would they have to turn him down?
They are soliciting for 10 - 11 yr. old girls through the mail now!?! And what if somebody actually sends their daughter off to "Australia" with these people! You should report this letter to the postal department right away. Just my nsho.
A web search tells me that the USPS knows about them. And so do a whole bunch of other people.
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While they make an effort to look like a fine upstanding institution with years of governmental involvement and standards, they are so not. They list every single president from Dwight D. Eisenhower through GW Bush as honorary chairmen on the sidebar of their letter, and claim they are an official partner of the national teacher of the year program.
Well any group can name virtually anyone as honorary chairman, unless the honoree complains about it it tends to stick. Dead people do not complain a lot, and most politicians don't pay a lot of attention to such things. It just happens a lot, especially to presidents and former presidents. It is interesting to note that other than President Obama, the only president since Eisenhower that is missing from the list is Jimmy Carter. Say what you like about Mr. Carter's governance, he has to be one of the most ethical presidents we ever had in this country.
So far as the teacher of the year thing, the parent group Ambassadors Group, Inc., donates to the CCSSO (Chief Council of State School Officers), which runs the Teacher of the Year Program. They are not a partner per say, they are more like the return address labels you get for donating to the humane society. You could abuse hamsters in your spare time, but still get to use your gift labels.
They do not "select" kids for these trips, they buy mailing lists and run a direct mail scam that makes it look like your kid is being "honored" by their selection. Then they charge anyone who accepts the invitation right out the yin-yang for the trip. I'll bet lots of people get suckered by this. Except when they mess up, like they did with us, several parents whose children had died, and the cat that had been dead for years (which must have been a real surprise to it's no longer bereaved owners).
It looks like they usually target high school age kids. I shudder to think what would happen to a bunch of ten and 11 year olds on one of these trips. Looking at the letter again, they say they are specifically inviting kids from the Lake Erie region for this Australian trip. In case that is so, if you live nearby, keep a sharp eye out for this nonsense.
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