Mechanic Falls student wants to represent Maine at the World Leadership Forum.
By John Plestina
Special to the Sun Journal

MECHANIC FALLS – Jessica Kobeckis has an opportunity to travel to the British Isles as a student ambassador this summer, but only if she can raise enough money to fund her trip.

The 16-year-old Poland Regional High School sophomore hopes to go to England and Ireland in July and August to participate with a group of Maine teenagers in the World Leadership Forum of the People to People Student Ambassador program.

The Spokane, Wash.-based People to People organization was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 with the mission of bringing people from different countries together to work toward world peace. Eight subsequent presidents have served as honorary chairmen of People to People. Since 1963, more than 125,000 students have traveled abroad with the Student Ambassador Program.

The total cost of the trip is nearly $5,000. Kobeckis must do her own fund raising. To date, she has received several donations, but she is still lacking more than $2,500.

“We’ve raised nearly a thousand and the rest, about $1,500, is from the family. Just from fund raising we’ve made about a thousand,” Kobeckis said.

The Mechanic Falls teenager and her mother, Jean Kobeckis, have held a bake sale, sent letters to businesses asking for donations, raffled off a donated piece of furniture from Bob Rule Inc., of Norway, and raffled a gift certificate from Kathy’s Diner of Mechanic Falls.

“We’ve been planning on trying to get together with a few of my friends and do a bottle drive. As of right now, all that we’ve done is talked about it because we’ve had so much going on,” Kobeckis said.

Poland Regional High School was not involved the organization inviting Kobeckis to participate in the program and is not involved in the fund raising. The sophomore, who has been named to the honor roll many times, speculated that her invitation might have been partly because of her high academic achievements. She doesn’t know if anyone recommended her for the program.

“I never knew of this organization before I got a letter in the mail from them in October that I have been selected by them to attend one of their meetings,” she said.

The meeting was at Scarborough High School. “People who have gone on this trip before got up and talked about their experiences,” Kobeckis said. The students, mostly from Southern Maine schools, were shown a video about the program and given a booklet that explained the program.

Next came an interview at Gray New Gloucester Middle School by representatives of the People to People organization. About a week later, Kobeckis received a telephone call notifying her that she was accepted.

Student Ambassadors prepare for their travel by attending six family orientation meetings. Kobeckis attended meetings at Gray New Gloucester Middle School and at a school in Saco.

“It’s a lot about art and photography. They want us to take a lot of pictures, and we have to keep a journal while we’re there and use our pictures in support of our journal entries,” she said, adding that she is required to write an essay after she returns to Maine.

Kobeckis is scheduled to fly to London on July 13 with between 20 and 30 other students from Maine. Her stay in the capital of the United Kingdom includes a cruise on the Thames River and a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. She also will visit Birmingham, England, Scotland and Wales. About two weeks into the trip, the group from Maine will travel to Ireland with stops in Glendalough, Blessington and Dublin. They will depart for the United States from Dublin.

Donations to help Kobeckis with her fundraising efforts may be sent to Jessica Kobeckis, P.O. Box 271, Mechanic Falls, ME 04256.