Dreamtime 2009

Dreamtime 2009 is a collaborative learning project for elementary school students organized in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services and the Office of International Education. The goal of the project is to teach children about Indigenous Australian culture through the unique travel experiences of UW-Oshkosh students who have traveled to Australia. Please send project email to triverswi@yahoo.com. www.uwosh.edu/oie/abroad/australia.php

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Hi from your friends at UW Oshkosh!

Hi 5th Graders!

We hope you are staying warm with all the snow and cold weather we are getting and that you are excited about the friendship we are establishing.

I apologize that more of us were not able to come and meet you yesterday but I hope you had fun with Derek. He said that you all treated him very well and made him feel welcome at your school.

Thank you for the letters that you sent us. Mr. Thompson delivered them last month. We were all so excited when we opened them and saw your drawings and read what you had written.

We appreciate all of your questions. What a smart group of 5th graders! I know Mr. Thompson is very proud of each of you.

We are excited for our trip and we look forward to keeping in touch with you while we are in Australia.

Thank you for helping us learn about Australia with you and we hope you enjoy this experience.

Have a good last week of school before the break and remember to respect and listen to your teachers.

Take care,
Courtney Bauder-Group Leader

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Project Leader

G'day Mates...My name is Courtney Bauder and I am leading this group of students to Australia this January. I am very excited because this is our second year working on this project. I am a teacher at UW Oshkosh and I love to travel. I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world. I have worked with children when I lived and taught in China, Japan, and Germany and have traveled all over Europe, east Africa, southern Asia, and central America, and I love to make friends with people from different cultures. Last year we traveled to Australia and worked with your school and this year I am hoping that we can all learn about this wonderful place 'Down Under' again.

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Andi Kneepkens

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Andi Kneepkens

Hi! My name is Andi Kneepkens, and I’m a senior at UW-Oshkosh. I’m an Elementary Education (EC/MC) major with a minor in Mathematics, and I’ll be graduating next fall if everything goes as planned. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and I’ve been working with children for as long as I can remember, through baby-sitting, nanny-ing, and now working in childcare. I look forward to having my own classroom in the near future, and hope to be as memorable as some of my teachers were for me. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Australia, and I helped to plant over 1,000 trees! I am very excited to be going back, and look forward to communicating with you during the next few weeks!

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Melissa Marshall

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Melissa Marshall

Hello everyone! My name is Melissa and I am 20 years old. I am a junior at the University of Oshkosh and am currently studying Psychology and Biology. I love working with children and one day hope to become a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. Going to Australia has always been a dream of mine, and I am so happy to have been given this opportunity. My best friend Ashley and I are going down three weeks before the rest of the group to do our own sight seeing. I look forward to being in contact with all of you and am so excited to share this experience with you guys!!!

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Victoria Harmon

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Victoria Harmon

Hey! My name is Victoria Harmon. My hobbies include knitting, bike riding, walking, and others. I'm a 5th year student studying Elementary Education so one day I'll be teaching a grade varying from first grade to eight grade. I plan to graduate in December 2009, so I'm near the very end of my college career. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. Currently I live alone in Oshkosh, just me and my cat Boopee. She's all black with brown and grey spots. She's my world and I'm leaving her for three weeks to fly to a different country....Australia! I 'm crazily excited about going, I smile everytime I hear the word Australia. Can't wait 'til Jan. 6th!

Phylissa Schmidt

Phylissa Schmidt

Hello, my name is Phyllisa. I'm currently a senior at UW Oshkosh, studying Communication. I’m really excited to go to Australia in January, it has been a dream of mine for the last four years. I’m really a summer kind of girl, I love running, swimming, boating, and just being outside when it’s nice. I’ve been a snowboarder for about ten years, so one of my goals for Australia is to learn how to surf. I’m also really excited to go scuba diving! I can’t wait to learn about Australian culture and be away from all of this snow!

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Mike Nell

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Lacy Maertz

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Lacy Maertz

Hi my name is Lacy Maertz! I have traveled to a couple different places around the world and enjoy learning about different cultures. My first trip was to Germany with my family, and I learned to speak a little German. For my 16th birthday I decided to go to Spain with my Spanish class. This was really interesting because we had to learn the Spanish language to communicate with the people who lived there. I am really excited to travel across the world to Australia, and glad that i don't have to learn another language because they speak the same language as you and I.

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Ashley Iverson

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Ashley Iverson

Hi! My name is Ashley Iverson; I am 20 years old and a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I am double majoring in Accounting and Finance. I hope someday to get my CPA and will hopefully become the CFO for my favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers. I have wanted to travel to Australia since I was very young and am VERY excited for this amazing opportunity. I will be leaving 3 weeks earlier than the rest of the group and traveling with my best friend Melissa beforehand. I am looking forward to sharing our amazing experience with all of you and hope that someday you will be able to explore Australia for yourselves! Talk to you all soon! = )

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Jordan Mauer

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Jordan Mauer

Hi, my name is Jordyn Mauer (right) and I am currently a senior at the University of Oshkosh. I am majoring in communication with a minor in business. I am graduating in May of ’09 and plan to work for an advertising company in the Public Relations department. I am excited to go to Australia and experience life outside of the United States. While there I plan on scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and look forward to seeing all the different types of animals not found in the U.S. I am excited to experience the culture and plan on doing everything possible. I look forward to keeping in touch with you and telling you how my trip is going.

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Val Seidel

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Derek

U.W. Oshkosh Traveler - Derek

Gday mates, My name is Derek Brixius, I am a student at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I am studying Special Education and History. I am a competative powerlifting and I lifted on the United States Junior World Powerlifting Team which has brought me all over the United States as well as Pretoria, South Africa in 2004 and Sofia, Bulgaria in 2006. I have also traveled to Athens, Greece in June 2008 for two weeks with Mr. Bauder. I look forward to seeing kangaroos and koalas during my stay in Australia. I look forward to meeting each one of you!