Attention: Headmaster’s Office

In March 1999, I embarked on the New Millennium Ride - a bicycle trip from Seoul to Lisbon. (Please read the attached copy of the Executive Summary of the Expedition Proposal.) The New Millennium Ride has three primary goals. We want to improve cross-cultural understanding and tolerance and enable cooperation between peoples of different cultures, nationalities or persuasions. We want to help students understand and apply the latest technologies to improve what they do - and how they do it. Lastly, we are promoting the bicycle as an extremely viable and environmentally friendly form of transportation - as well as a wonderful alternative for exercise and recreation. 

My name is Everett B. Briggs. I am a graduate of Colby College, Waterville, ME (1980: English, Education). I have taught high school English, civics, and geography in the US. In addition to those subjects, I have also taught university English and philosophy abroad. I have just returned to the US after seven years in Asia. I lived in Thailand for three and a half years, where, as a Peace Corps Volunteer and then as a private contractor, I worked for the Thai Ministries of Public Health and Education. After Thailand, I spent three and a half years in Korea, where I taught English at the Catholic University Medical College, in Seoul. I am a paramedic. Before leaving for Asia, I taught winter emergency care at Williams and Dartmouth colleges. I was also the director of a professional ski patrol for four years. In the summer season, I delivered yachts up and down the East Coast of the U.S. I am a licensed Coast Guard captain. In addition to the US and Asia, I have lived in Europe, South America and Africa. 

During the course of my ride, I will meet with students and educators in a variety of organizations, including international schools, universities, NGOs and other institutions. The New Millennium Ride will use the technology of the Internet to link students along the route with each other and with students in the United States. It is my hope that schools and institutions like yours will be eager to get involved in the New Millennium Ride. 

How can your school benefit from and get involved in the New Millennium Ride? 

1. Visit our Website: www.new-mellennium-ride.org Students are encouraged to follow the New Millennium Ride via the Internet as the adventure unfolds. The site is updated frequently. You will find stories and photos about the people and students, the villages, towns, and countries visited. And there are many, many thank you's for the wonderful gestures of hospitality extended to NMR. Students and others following the expedition will be able to make connections with each other via our Website. And students delight in the story of their school being shared with so many. All participating schools will have this type of presence on our site. For quick access to stories and photos, click on the "Current Location" button on our Home Page and select topics and locations of interest to you.

 
2. Curriculum Enhancement: Incorporating the New Millennium Ride into class projects or discussions will enhance subjects such as geography, social studies, history, and languages. News, photos and stories found on our Website, can be used to seed new topics of inquiry, exploration and discovery.

 
3. Expedition Presentation: Your school community can certainly benefit from the New Millennium Ride School Presentation. My presentations include vignettes about the challenges faced, obstacles overcome, lessons learned, and thrills experienced on the road. The stories will focus on cross-cultural understanding, tolerance and cooperation. I will address a variety of issues: demography, development, environment, history, and geography. Often I engage the students in communication exercises that demonstrate the value of teamwork. Highlights of school visits also include group bike rides, family picnics and an afternoon's introduction to Ultimate Frisbee.

 
4. Help Your Sister School: Your school could use my visit as an opportunity to provide a benefit to your local sister school. I hope that your school will want to share the New Millennium Ride with students from another school. They could be included in the New Millennium Ride Presentation at your school; or, arrangements could be made for them to schedule a presentation at their own school.

 
5. Share Your School with the World: Your school, city, and region will be featured in pictures and text on the New Millennium Ride Website, as well as in presentations at other schools. Your students and teachers will have an opportunity to share local events and places of interest with me that I, in turn, will share with others. The places we visit, when possible, should be accessible by bicycle to help support our goal of promoting the bicycle as an affordable, fun, environmentally friendly, and practical form of transportation. A Saturday bicycle ride, to coincide with my visit, could be organized by your school.

 
6. A Safe Haven: Your school can provide a safe haven for me, a place where I can drop my anchor for three days in order to digest the previous leg of the trip and prepare for the next leg.

 
7. Preparing for my visit:

Would your school be able to make arrangements for a local family to host my visit? 
Would your school be able to provide me with Internet access? 
Would your school be able to provide a mail drop-point for my incoming snail (postal) mail?

Sincerely yours, 

Everett B. Briggs