Participating in a program begun by President Dwight Eisenhower, Locust Valley High School student Mari Martone ventured to Europe this summer as a member of the People to People Student Ambassador program. The only Locust Valley student to travel under this ambassador program, Mari spent three weeks traveling through historical cities, meeting representatives of the cities and learning firsthand about each city's history and culture. The entire delegation consisted of 37 students from across Nassau County.

In Paris, Mari and the delegation visited the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and met with a French city hall official. And, of course, the group sampled the city's renowned cuisine on several occasions. Zurich was the next stop, followed by Austria, where students visited Mozart's birthplace, had lunch in a Bavarian restaurant, and participated in Austrian folk dancing.

Next was a homestay, in Raponttenstein, Austria, where delegates stayed in the homes of participating families to learn more about family life in the Austrian culture. There, Mari and her "family" attended a festival with music, dancing and conversation. Mari says the villages where she stayed were small; everyone knows each other. She says that was the biggest difference - teenagers basically enjoy the same things half a world away. Mari discovered that the three girls, ages 11, 13 and 15, all enjoy music, movies, shopping, and spending time at their friends' homes.

In Vienna, delegates had a discussion with a concentration camp survivor, and an educational meeting at Vienna's city hall. Venice was the next city on the agenda, where a representative of The Istituto guided the group through a tour of the historical city. Delegates were taken to observe the manufacturing of glass and lace. According to Mari, Venice was the most beautiful city on the agenda. Among the highlights were the colorful fishermen houses seen on the surrounding islands.

Michelangelo's David was the highlight of the next stop, Florence. Another well-known monument the delegation took in was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In Rome, students visited an alabaster factory, and had some time to stroll through the streets of ancient Rome. Considered one of the world's most attractive cities, Rome offered delegates many sites to see, including Vatican City, the Pantheon Piazza Navona and Capitol Hill. And, doing as the Romans do, delegates sat down to dinner at a local restaurant, with all the trimmings. Mari and her friends shouted, "Ciao!" as they boarded the plane that took them back to the United States, with memories to last a lifetime.

Mari received many recommendations to qualify her as an ambassador, according to her mother, Donna. Among them LVHS Principal Edward Tronolone, English teacher Russel Hartmann and her piano teacher, Carol Goglia. Mari, at a young age, is already involved in many community and athletic activities both in Locust Valley High School and beyond. She is the vice president of the junior class, sports editor of Trident, the school's yearbook, a member of Interact, a member of the stage band, and she plays field hockey and softball. In addition, Mari is a peer mediator, a member of the Foreign Language Honor Society and National Honor Society, and is a HOBY award winner.

This probably won't be her last trip to Europe - Mari says what she experienced was "only the tip of the iceberg." She plans to return on her own to do more in-depth exploration of such incredibly historic cities.

Orphaned in Poland at the age of 15, Joanna Debrowska, or Asia as she is known, entered Locust Valley High School midway through 10th grade, speaking virtually no English. After some ESL instruction, she was mainstreamed into regular sophomore Regents courses.

For the first story she was assigned to read for English, Asia (pronounced "Asha") had to sit at the kitchen table with a Polish/English dictionary and looked up every single word in that story. She was so determined to be successful, and applied herself so diligently, that often she was up quite late completing her assignments.

When she entered her junior year, Asia had either already been placed into, or earned entrance into almost all honors classes where she excelled¬so much so, that she was accepted into the National Honor Society. At the beginning of this school year she received a Recognition Award from the National Organization of Women for her extraordinary achievements.

As Asia became increasingly comfortable with the English language, she has been able to take part more fully in the life of the school. She worked on the set and lighting crew for the school's spring musical and was an integral part of the behind-the-scenes work for the highly successful Young Author's Conference.

Principal Ed Tronolone had many things to say about the future of this fine young woman, who has had to overcome obstacles in her personal life as well as in school. "She has been accepted to Stony Brook University and she has a dream of one day becoming a doctor. I believe she will."