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Student ambassador sets out to save the world

Date: 4/6/2010

April 7, 2010.

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor



WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Kayley Weathers, a ninth grader at West Springfield High School, has big dreams for her future: she plans to change the world.

Weathers will travel to Europe this summer as a student ambassador for one of the country's elite cultural exchange programs, People to People, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. She will embark on the 19-day journey to meet with government officials to learn the socio-economic and political workings of four prominent European nations.

"I feel that this program can help change the world little by little and this is why I wanted to be a part of it," Weathers told Reminder Publications. "I believe that in doing this I will become a more cultural person and understand a little bit more about the world around me."

Weathers added she's never ventured outside of the United States before and is most excited to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. She will also visit sites and host families in Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

Weathers explained she'd never heard of the People to People Student Ambassador Program until one of her teachers chose to nominate her.

"It's an awesome opportunity and it's a very reputable organization that has been around for many years," Nancy Pellegrino, Weathers' mother, said.

"She gets to earn high school credit ... and see the Eiffel Tower and all these places I've never seen before," she continued.

Pellegrino said this trip will allow Weathers to "open her eyes" to a world filled with opportunities outside of West Springfield.

She noted her daughter has raised $4,700 toward the program's $5,999 tuition.

Pellegrino added she hopes an upcoming pasta dinner fundraiser will yield the remaining $1,300.

The pasta supper will take place on April 11 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the West Springfield Elks on Morgan Road.

Tickets are $10 per person and children under five years of age are free.

Price of admission includes meal, entertainment and raffles.

For tickets or more information, contact Pellegrino at 626-5915 or olv730@comcast.net.