A group of Polish students and teachers from the US-Poland Parliamentary Leadership Youth Exchange Program recently returned from a trip to the United States feeling tired but excited and already looking forward to future visits.

Photo: Students from Lodz learn how to do a "the wave" during a basketball tournament.

Before their long-anticipated departure, the Program's Polish participants met in Warsaw  for an intensive orientation. Over the course of four days, they learned about cultural differences and dealing with potential problems in a foreign country. The group  also visited the United States Embassy, where they met  representatives of various organizations devoted to US-Polish cooperation as well as representatives of the Polish Ministry of Education.

The group first flew to Chicago, where they visited the downtown area. The trip got off to a slow start: due to a heavy snowstorm on the first day, schools were closed, and so the participants spent the day with their host families instead of working. The rest of the three-week-stay was much busier: participants gave lectures and presentations about Poland in local schools, visited day care centers, helped build homeless shelters and got quite a bit of job-shadowing experience.

On their fourth week the group flew to Washington, DC for a Civic Education Workship, where they met representatives of the US Department of State and Senator Richard Lugar, who created the Program.

Now, having returned to Poland, the Program's Polish students are eagerly anticipating the second half of the exchange: American students will visit Poland in June. The Polish participants are feverishly brainstorming to give their American peers the best experience possible and show them Poland from the most interesting perspectives.

The Exchange Program aims to show youth from the US and Poland the benefits of friendly bilateral relations, develop their leadership skills and enhance their global awareness and  sense of responsibility. In the beginning of the summer, all participants will have a chance to apply their newly acquired skills during a workshop in Kraków, where they will draft proposals for community service projects. The best projects will receive funding from the Kościuszko Foundation.

The US-Poland Parliamentary Youth Leadership Exchange Program is sponsored by the US Department of State with the goal of promoting civil education and social activism. The Program was initiated by Senator Lugar in honor of the 90^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USA and Poland. The Program is administered jointly by  the American Council for International Education and the European Academy of Diplomacy.