The similarities between rhythmic gymnastics and geography might be few and far between but Peggy Flavin of Downers Grove is one clear link.

For the past several years, Peggy, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at St. Joseph School, has participated in rhythmic gymnastics. She recently had the opportunity to take her talents outside the country and stand side-by-side with girls her age from around the world who share a love of the activity. The trip also gave her the chance to see with her own eyes what she learned about in class.

In June, Peggy, her gymnastics coach and a few other gymnasts took off for Serbia — that’s a southeastern European county, but Peggy already knew that. Before her trip, she took world history throughout seventh grade and aced the class. She said she enjoyed learning about other counties and their cultures, and this summer provided an opportunity for her to experience that first hand.

“I was a little bit nervous because I’d never been out of the country, but I was also excited,” Peggy said.

For 16 days, Peggy and the rest of her group practiced and performed in Serbia and also in Montenegro. The group stayed with a host family for their first five days in Belgrade. From there, they flew to Montenegro where they rented an apartment for 11 days and continued to hone their rhythmic gymnastic skills, all while getting a taste of life in another country far from Downers Grove.

Peggy said in her free time, she was able to go sightseeing and enjoyed the warm temperatures and the beaches. One highlight of the trip, she said, was taking a boat ride on the Danube River — a body of water she studied in her textbook.

Peggy’s seventh-grade world history teacher at St. Joe’s, Kathie Salek, said it’s a benefit to students at the middle school level to not only have an understanding of their community and country, but also other areas of the world.

“I’ve been teaching (geography) for a long time and I do it because I want the kids to be familiar with places around the world,” Salek said. “(Peggy) is excellent at maps when it comes down to testing for locations of countries and physical features. She scores right up there.”