The Odyssey was a non-profit founded in the mid-1990's to use this newfangled thing called the Internet to promote global awareness among youth and involve them in activities to create positive change in the world. More than 2000 classes in over 80 countries used our websites while they were being actively created between 1998 and 2001, and over the next decade they continued to receive between 65,000 and 230,000 unique visitors per month.

Our work garnered numerous awards and notable mentions from such organizations as the US State Department, Education World, USA Today, Excite, and the Microsoft Encarta Schoolhouse, among others.

Our first major project, the World Trek - launched in January 1999 and ended August, 2000 - took students on an otherwise impossible field trip - a two-year Trek around the world. The Odyssey website connected tens of thousands of students to a team of five educators doing a real two-year trek around the world. The Trekkers were outfitted with laptops and digital cameras to document their experiences and the people and places they visited.

The photos, video, audio, and text they capture were posted on the website twice a week for students to follow along. In addition to visiting sites of historic and cultural significance, Team Members also interviewed organizations and people working towards positive changein the world – from youth leaders, to international non-profits, to peace and human rights activists, to prominent figures such as writers and Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Students could also interact with the Team and many of these people via live chats, e-mail, polls, and discussion boards.