Teeland students plan D.C. trip

WASILLA -- While other middle school students around the Valley were hard at work in their first-period classes Oct. 21, four eighth-grade students from Teeland were having breakfast at Mat-Su Resort. But these students weren't just hangin' out. They were on a mission.

"We assure you that you won't be disappointed with your investment," said 13-year-old Lexie Krell to a roomful of Wasilla Sunrise Rotarians.

Krell and her counterparts, Ryan Beauregard, Adam Ward and Katie Wieliczkiewicz, are soliciting funds to help offset the costs for a trip the four will make to Washington D.C. next month. They're hoping Rotary will help out.

The students were among seven in the state selected as student ambassadors to represent Alaska in the People to People World Leadership Forum. The forum is an opportunity for students "to learn more about the issues of leadership through the study of important events, people and places," according to the 2003 People to People study guide for participants.

Linda Volkman, who teaches social studies at Teeland Middle School nominated the students last spring. She said she nominated them because of their academic excellence and outstanding leadership potential: All four students are members of National Junior Honor Society; Krell, Beauregard and Wieliczkiewicz are members of student council; Wieliczkiewicz represents Teeland on the districtwide student advisory board; and all are involved in community service projects, either through school activities or through scouting, or their churches.

"They're already leaders of our school," Volkman said, "I expect them to be leaders in high school and all the way through [their lives]."

The students say they'll learn skills at the forum that they'll share with their peers and with their community when they return. Ward calls the experience a "learning opportunity that will help them grow as students, as individuals and also as leaders."

But the price for this learning is steep: $2,390 per student, plus airfare. The students have been looking for sponsors to help offset the cost. So far, they've received $100 from an employee of Matanuska Electric Association and $200 from American Legion Women's Auxiliary Post 35. All funds raised go into one pot and will be divided equally among the four.

Despite the high price, the students' parents say it's money well spent. Diane Beauregard, Ryan's mother, said the opportunity will broaden her son's horizons.

"He'll be exposed to other people, other mindsets, other cultures. There's not much of that here," Beauregard said.

Lexie's mother, Kathy Krell, agreed. And, she said, there is as much value in the preparation for the trip as there will be in the trip itself. She said the students are earning the trip: They've researched and written letters requesting sponsors; they've written speeches explaining the history of People to People and what they hope to gain from the experience; and they've delivered those speeches in front of a roomful of Rotarians and will approach other organizations, as well.

"They're getting more of a perspective on just how big a deal this actually is," Krell said.

With the trip a little more than a week away, the students are getting anxious. Wieliczkiewicz, a self-proclaimed history freak, said she imagines her "face will light up like a little child at Christmas" when she steps onto the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg. The younger Krell said she's looking forward to the Holocaust Museum, but she's a little worried about meeting her roommates.

"I mean, I'm going to be living with them for a week," she said.

Her mother admitted she's a bit anxious, too.

"It's a little unnerving to send your child out on their own at age 13 to a program, but I think she's mature enough to handle the experience," Krell said.

Volkman, the seventh-grade teacher who nominated the four, agrees. She said she's certain the students have the maturity to handle the experience. And she says it will have far-reaching affects.

"I'm convinced this experience will change them all in one way or another, and for some, possibly life changing," she said.