Former Homecoming King Neal Kalso returned home to Lake Orion last week to participate in the annual festivities.
Perhaps the former LOHS ruler has some new perspective after visiting distant lands where monarchies reigned supreme for many centuries.
Kalso, who is now a health and physical education teacher in Springfield, Virginia, went to Europe this past summer with the People-to-People Student Ambassador Program.
‘It was started by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956,? Kalso said. ‘Once he completed his presidency, he didn’t want to see it go by the wayside, so he made it a for-profit organization.?
Over the course of the past 50 years, student delegations have journeyed to 34 different countries on all seven continents.
Interested students must go through a nomination and interview process to be selected as student ambassadors and participate in the program.
Students in elementary school, middle school and high school can participate. Kalso had a high school delegation on his first People-to-People journey. They flew out of Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. on July 4.
In his delegation were 41 students, most from nearby in Virginia. They started their trip in France.
‘It was probably my favorite country,? Kalso said, noting the rich history in places like The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower made Paris stand out.
His group also went on a two-day home stay in Reims, located in the north of France, where the students got to experience French culture firsthand.
They then travelled to Venice, Italy and took six days to journey south, checking out the country’s many historical sites along the way, such as the Leaning Tower in Pisa and the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
‘From Italy, we took an overnight ferry to Greece,? Kalso said.
‘Everything there was blue,? he said of Greece. ‘From the flag to the sky to the sea, it was all just blue.?
Though the food in Greece was good, Kalso said it didn’t stand out as much as what he ate in France or Italy.
‘The gyros taste just as good here as they did there,? he noted.
With travel time, Kalso’s trip was 20 days long. They flew back to D.C. from Athens.
Over those three weeks, Kalso said he got to know his group of over 40 rather well, in addition to the four other teachers that chaperoned the trip.
‘It’s all educators,? he said of the adults that accompany the students in the program. ‘What better way to spend the months off that teachers receive??
Next year, Kalso hopes to travel with People-to-People on a trip that will include visits to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. He will likely be travelling with a middle school group on that trip.
Though he has plans to eventually get his master’s degree, Kalso said he will continue to travel on People-to-People trips in the summer ‘as long as I am able to.?
Kalso, who graduated from LOHS in 2000 and then went to Western Michigan University, added that the program prepares both students and teachers extremely well.
They meet every month after the selection process ends in November, up until the summer trip.
His group also met about a month after returning to the states to reflect on the many sights they saw.
Those sights, seen by the influential leaders of the future, were also viewed by the influential leaders of the past, such as Walt Disney.
Disney created the ‘It’s a Small World? attraction in 1964 after his participation in the People-to-People International White House Conference.
‘It’s amazing how Disney’s words are just as appropriate today as they were when introduced in 1964,? the People-to-People website says, noting the attraction has introduced over 250 million people to the concept that people share the same core values, in spite of having differences.
For more information about the People-to-People program, visit www.studentambassadors.org.