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Jacob Naffziger is a fifth-grader who loves the ocean.
Jacob, a student at Range View Elementary School in Severance, will see plenty of water when he travels to Australia from July 14-29 as a student ambassador with the People to People program.
According to its website, People to People Ambassador Programs offer life-changing educational travel opportunities for students, educators and professionals. The company has nearly 50 years of experience, more than 500,000 alumni and destinations on seven continents.
Founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the mission of People to People is to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange, making the world a better place for future generations.
Jacob, 11, was nominated for the People to People program by his fourth-grade teacher Mandy Schneider and GATE teacher Natalie Steel. Jacob underwent an interview process before he was accepted, and goes to monthly meetings to learn how to act as an ambassador in a foreign country. Jacob will be going with other Colorado delegates and some from Michigan and Washington. There will be 50 total kids in his group with 25 from northern Colorado. Jacob is the only student going from the Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District.
“I like to make new friends,” Jacob said.
The son of Marty and Cathy Naffziger of Severance, Jacob must raise $6,700 in order to go on the trip. He's raising the money through fundraisers that have included a bowl-a-thon at Chipper Lanes in Fort Collins (raised $800) and a bake sale at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Windsor (raised $150). Currently, Jacob is raising money by recycling ink and LaserJet cartridges, cell phones and aluminum cans and selling Butter Braids and David James Gourmet Coffee. If anyone would like to order anything or would like to participate in the recycling, they can contact Jacob's mother at cnaffziger@gmail.com.
A dinner and silent auction is also planned for March or April to raise money. Cathy said Jacob's already raised $3,000 for the trip.
“We're pretty much trying anything we can to raise money,” Jacob said. “I am very happy that people are helping me. If they weren't helping me, I'd probably have about $2.”
Cathy admits that she's a bit nervous, but excited about the opportunity for her son to go Down Under.
“We're not too nervous yet, but we will be when he probably goes to get on the plane,” Cathy said. “If he had been our first child, we probably wouldn't have let him go at all. Now that he's our third child and we've experienced so much with the other two, we know it's a great opportunity for him and that outweighs our fear of letting him go.”
Jacob, who wants to be a marine biologist and write novels when he grows up, said he's really excited about the trip.
“It will be exciting and a little bit scary because it's different,” Jacob said. “I'm not really scared about much, it's just that I'm a very picky eater so I'm a little bit scared of the food if I'll like it or not because they have bunch of different food that we usually don't eat.”
Jacob, who loves math, science, reading, playing baseball and video games, said he can't wait to go scuba diving and snorkeling.
“I'm looking forward to pretty much everything. There is so much to do and it's just awesome,” Jacob said.
Cathy said Jacob will visit places behind the scenes in Australia that regular tourists don't have access to.
“They get to meet with Parliament, they get to visit the school systems, they get to spend a day with the Aborigines and learn how to throw boomerangs. They're going to be snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with a marine biologist and that's what he wants to be when he grows up. That was a No. 1 selling point is that he would get to do that with a marine biologist.,” Cathy said. “Once they get to Australia, all their traveling is done by motor coach so they can keep all the kids together.”
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Tell us about it: Have a Good For You? Send it to gfy@mywindsornow.com.
Jacob, a student at Range View Elementary School in Severance, will see plenty of water when he travels to Australia from July 14-29 as a student ambassador with the People to People program.
According to its website, People to People Ambassador Programs offer life-changing educational travel opportunities for students, educators and professionals. The company has nearly 50 years of experience, more than 500,000 alumni and destinations on seven continents.
Founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the mission of People to People is to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange, making the world a better place for future generations.
Jacob, 11, was nominated for the People to People program by his fourth-grade teacher Mandy Schneider and GATE teacher Natalie Steel. Jacob underwent an interview process before he was accepted, and goes to monthly meetings to learn how to act as an ambassador in a foreign country. Jacob will be going with other Colorado delegates and some from Michigan and Washington. There will be 50 total kids in his group with 25 from northern Colorado. Jacob is the only student going from the Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District.
“I like to make new friends,” Jacob said.
The son of Marty and Cathy Naffziger of Severance, Jacob must raise $6,700 in order to go on the trip. He's raising the money through fundraisers that have included a bowl-a-thon at Chipper Lanes in Fort Collins (raised $800) and a bake sale at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Windsor (raised $150). Currently, Jacob is raising money by recycling ink and LaserJet cartridges, cell phones and aluminum cans and selling Butter Braids and David James Gourmet Coffee. If anyone would like to order anything or would like to participate in the recycling, they can contact Jacob's mother at cnaffziger@gmail.com.
A dinner and silent auction is also planned for March or April to raise money. Cathy said Jacob's already raised $3,000 for the trip.
“We're pretty much trying anything we can to raise money,” Jacob said. “I am very happy that people are helping me. If they weren't helping me, I'd probably have about $2.”
Cathy admits that she's a bit nervous, but excited about the opportunity for her son to go Down Under.
“We're not too nervous yet, but we will be when he probably goes to get on the plane,” Cathy said. “If he had been our first child, we probably wouldn't have let him go at all. Now that he's our third child and we've experienced so much with the other two, we know it's a great opportunity for him and that outweighs our fear of letting him go.”
Jacob, who wants to be a marine biologist and write novels when he grows up, said he's really excited about the trip.
“It will be exciting and a little bit scary because it's different,” Jacob said. “I'm not really scared about much, it's just that I'm a very picky eater so I'm a little bit scared of the food if I'll like it or not because they have bunch of different food that we usually don't eat.”
Jacob, who loves math, science, reading, playing baseball and video games, said he can't wait to go scuba diving and snorkeling.
“I'm looking forward to pretty much everything. There is so much to do and it's just awesome,” Jacob said.
Cathy said Jacob will visit places behind the scenes in Australia that regular tourists don't have access to.
“They get to meet with Parliament, they get to visit the school systems, they get to spend a day with the Aborigines and learn how to throw boomerangs. They're going to be snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with a marine biologist and that's what he wants to be when he grows up. That was a No. 1 selling point is that he would get to do that with a marine biologist.,” Cathy said. “Once they get to Australia, all their traveling is done by motor coach so they can keep all the kids together.”
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Tell us about it: Have a Good For You? Send it to gfy@mywindsornow.com.
