Trio tapped for People to People

Three students from the Terrebonne/Lafourche area will embark on an educational journey across the Atlantic Ocean this summer, studying abroad in Europe and Paris.

The students will represent the United States in a delegation called People to People Ambassadors, a program started by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

For 15 days in June, the students will learn firsthand from European dignitaries while also teaching them about our government and cultures in this modern-day “Tale of Two Cities.”

Eisenhower felt that ordinary citizens of different nations, if allowed to communicate directly, could settle their differences and find peace. The students can earn academic credits while getting to know the different cultures.

Since 1963, students have crossed international barriers to learn about the arts, sports and family life of cultures around the world. The local student ambassadors are Dylan Barrios, of Mulberry Elementary School; Teddi Folse, of Raceland Middle School; and Alyssa Cruse, of St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School.

The students said they are excited about the prospect of traveling abroad. In fact, Folse is ready to leave today. She said she has researched the area as a program project.

Cruse said she is looking forward to being a role model for the other students. “We are curious to see how the younger students will act once we travel outside of the state,” the she said.

Dr. Maria B. Cruse, mother of Alyssa, said the local students chosen for the program are “mature ’tweens.”

“The program is a well put together. The advisors really care about the well being of the students. She gets to travel to other places and meet other students their age,” she said.

Nominated by their teachers and administrators, the three honor students will travel with New Orleans and Northshore delegates, as well as chaperones from seven other parishes.

The delegates meet once a month at Florida Avenue Elementary School in Slidell to discuss overseas travel, making wise purchases and writing daily in their journals. The students are also take field trips and listen to other public officials speak about their experiences abroad.

Alyssa Cruse has traveled outside of the U.S.; her family has vacationed in South America. But this will be the first time the local students have traveled outside of the country without their parents.

Community service is another integral part of the student ambassador program, and the local delegation is doing its part to make a positive difference with plans for a clean-up effort at New Orleans’ City Park.

“It’s not just a fun trip for the students. They are really learning things about their community as well as the European culture. They are learning things that are will stay with them for life,” said Teddi Folse’s mother, Rivira Folse.

The program encourages the ambassadors to lead individual service projects, such as working with the Road Home project in the Crescent City’s Lakeview subdivision. The students have also participated in fundraising projects to raise the $4,500 needed for the international trip.

According to the primary delegation leader Debbie Green, the program is more about people than places.

“The citizens and governmental official from overseas will have the opportunity to see what American students are really like and not what they see on television,” said Maria Cruse.