From CPR Training to GPS Tracking, People to People Ambassador Programs Kicks Off the Summer Travel Season

SPOKANE, Wash., June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- People to People Ambassador Programs, the leader in global educational travel experiences, officially kicks off the summer travel season with programs to six continents around the world.  Students from across the country will head abroad on unique educational and experiential travel centered on unique access to people, places and cultural activities.

For nearly 50 years, the company has been traveling students across the globe, and takes pride in being the first to implement such leading industry initiatives as:

• 100 percent teacher leader CPR certification
• 24 hour on-call capabilities during travel season
• State of the art emergency command center in corporate headquarters
• The only company of its kind to employ a Senior Director of Health and Safety
• All teachers and chaperones receive full background checks
• Nutritionist for meals
• Full scale response team simulations
• GPS enabled cell phone for teacher in each travel group
• Travel provider issued credit card for every group
• Optional GPS and phone rental feature for student travelers

This year, People to People Ambassador Programs is launching the FindMe solution from Cellhire, a world leader in providing international wireless communications based in Dallas, TX.  

The FindMe solution allows the Cellhire mobile phone or BlackBerry device to be tracked using GPS, or cell tower triangulation in the event that GPS is unavailable. FindMe seamlessly reports the position of the handset to a central control website.  

During the upcoming summer travel season, People to People Ambassador Programs is providing teacher leaders with this solution.  The feature is also available to parents renting the FindMe phone through Cellhire.  Parents can hold text conversations with their student traveler through the FindMe website, staying in touch despite time zone differences.  Cellhire will be employing safeguards regarding the amount of data the FindMe phones use so that parents can quickly be alerted if a student is starting to run up a large phone bill.

Locations are reported up to every 15 minutes and displayed on a secure web portal, to which only the Cellhire customer has access to view in map or location report format. Teacher leaders and internal support staff can track either an individual or a group and can view a full history of locations. Parents can keep track of where there students are, and enjoy the educational travel experience along with them.

"We are launching our new initiatives this summer to help give parents better peace of mind in terms of where their student traveler is, and what they eat," said Peg Thomas, President of People to People Ambassador Programs.  "With our new GPS tracking feature, parents can enjoy following along on the educational travel experience, and our leaders and support staff can instantly pinpoint exact locations on an as needed basis.  Plus, our new health-related pilot program is designed to help us in the implementation of new plans geared toward making it easier for our Student Ambassadors to make smarter nutritional choices while traveling and supply ongoing information on health and nutrition."

The new Healthy Foods pilot program this summer is designed to assist and educate student travelers on health and nutrition so that they may make more informed meal decisions both now and into the future.  As part of the program, People to People Ambassador Programs Safe Travel 24/7 Blog will be extended to include posts from both Mike Bowers, Senior Director of Health and Safety and April Davis, a combined registered dietitian and Clinical Exercise Specialist.  Davis works at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital, St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, and Washington State University.

Davis provides education and nutrition support to adult and pediatric patients in acute care settings with a wide range of medical conditions including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, metabolism disorders, and heart disease. At Washington State University, she teaches two courses for the Nutrition & Exercise Physiology Program in the College of Pharmacy.

Plans call for Davis to join a Student Ambassador program over the summer to observe meals and food choices and report her findings, as well as implementing a small pilot program to have select teachers keep meal diaries during a program to review food quality, selection, portion sizes, and other related items.  A post travel focus group will also be implemented to assist in the development of goals and initiatives for the 2011 travel season.

About People to People Ambassador Programs

People to People Ambassador Programs is the most recognized and respected educational travel provider and has provided more than 400,000 citizens of the world the opportunity to promote peace through understanding. The Ambassador Programs include Citizen, Student, Sports and Leadership to promote international and domestic programs for professionals, students, athletes, and the leaders of tomorrow. Participation in a People to People Ambassador Program contributes directly to personal success in a globalized world and fosters international friendships.

Our hands on, unique, educational travel programs provide access to people and places beyond compare and combine unique cultural experiences with personal interaction to create global impact.

For nearly 50 years, People to People Ambassador Programs has helped participants travel to seven continents while maintaining an extraordinary track record of travel safety. Our safety record is the result of many factors, including a reliance on federal guidelines, the strength and experience of our leaders, our organization's expertise and experience in program destination countries, a vast global network of resources and team members, and a sincere commitment to the wellbeing of our Ambassadors and their families.  For more information, visit: www.peopletopeople.com.

The Ambassador Programs serve as the exclusive educational travel provider of People to People International (PTPI), the nonprofit, Kansas City-based organization founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote peace through understanding worldwide.  PTPI and Ambassadors Group are united in their mission of bridging cultural and political borders through education and exchange.

About Ambassadors Group

Ambassadors Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPAX) is a socially conscious, education company located in Spokane, Washington.  Ambassadors Group is the parent company of People to People Ambassador Programs, World Adventures Unlimited, Society for Global Citizens, and BookRags, an educational research website.  The company also oversees the Washington School of World Studies, an accredited travel study and distance learning school. Additional information about Ambassadors Group and subsidiaries is available at www.ambassadorsgroup.com.

SOURCE People to People Ambassador Programs