U.K. bound; Crestview boy, 10, wins prestigious ambassadorship (with photos)
When Bob Sikes Elementary School lets out this spring, most of the kids will eagerly look forward to whiling away their summers playing baseball or soccer, going to the beach or fishing.
But not Ethan Sparagowski.
The 10-year-old has other plans. He’ll be meeting with a member of Parliament, kissing the Blarney Stone, learning to dance an Irish jig, experiencing life as a collier in the pits of Wales, searching for the Loch Ness monster and discovering why the guards of the crown jewels are called Beefeaters.
Ethan is Bob Sikes and northern Okaloosa County’s first elementary school student to be accepted in the prestigious People-to-People Ambassador Program founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.
“That’s excellent!” exclaimed Bob Sikes Principal Gary Massey upon hearing the news. “He’s a great kid.”
The three-week program will take Ethan and the other 11 students in his northwest Florida delegation to London, Oxford and Warwick, England; Loch Ness and Edinburgh, Scotland; Blaenafon, Wales; and Dublin and County Kerry, Ireland.
The north Crestview fifth grader is the youngest of Nancy and Kevin Sparagowski’s two sons. Ethan’s older brother Chayne is a student at Northwest Florida State College. He was among 30 students from Escambia to Walton counties being considered for the program, said his proud mom.
Nancy Sparagowski said the wait after his Jan. 23 interview was agonizing, but at last the phone rang around 7 p.m. on Jan. 25.
“You should have seen his face!” she said. “At first he was real quiet, then he got a big grin on his face.”
Along with Ethan’s application, he sent letters of recommendation from his Bob Sikes second and third grade teachers, Polly Brunson and Angelique Cox, and his current teacher, Kathy Morris, community leader Bob Lynn, and Ethan’s Crestview city league soccer coach of five years, Philip Hutcheson.
“He’s a very outgoing, hard-working student who does well,” said Cox. “He’s just an all-around good kid. I know he’ll do great in this program.”
Ethan is particularly excited about soaring over England’s capital on the London Eye, as well as playing a little soccer in the United Kingdom (or “football” as it’s known outside of the U.S.).
“It’s my favorite sport,” Ethan said. “They’re really good there. It’d be cool to learn the rules they have there.”
Ethan’s experiences will include attending a West End play, dancing at an Irish “céilidh” (KAY lee) community festival, hiking in the Scottish highlands, helping train Scottish sheepdogs, visiting a medieval encampment at Warwick Castle, punting in Oxford, and making bread on an Irish farm.
“They also do a service project while he’s over there in one of the communities,” Sparagowski said.
Although being away from his family and home for three weeks might seem daunting for most kids his age, Ethan doesn’t foresee any problems. In fact, he’s particularly looking forward to a little respite from his big brother’s amateur radio hobby.
“I might miss Chayne’s radios going off all night but I might get a pretty good night’s sleep, too,” Ethan declared.
The boys’ mom admitted she had some initial misgivings about letting her youngest tromp around the U.K. under the escort of strangers. However, once Kevin and Nancy Sparagowski met Ethan’s People-to-People delegation leader, Escambia County schoolteacher Barbie Nall, and learned of the many health, safety and security provisions the program practices, both were much more at ease.
“They have an excellent security plan in place,” Nancy Sparagowski said. “The program is well thought out and very well organized.”
Soon Ethan and the other kids in his delegation will begin monthly classes in British education, culture and government. “It’s also a time for them to start building friendships with other members,” Nancy Sparagowski said.
The biggest challenge, Ethan’s mom said, is raising the program’s almost $7,000 tuition, but Ethan has proven his fund-raising prowess through participation in events such as the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Hearts.
“I figured if he can raise $1,800 for Relay for Life on his own, I feel he can do it,” said Nancy Sparagowski, who added that Ethan paid the initial application payment out of his own savings. “He’s gung-ho now.”
“I have no doubt he’ll do it because that’s what he does,” agreed Cox. “He’s a wonderful kid.”
“I’m so glad he’s got this opportunity,” Nancy Sparagowski said. “It’ll benefit him all the way around.”
If you would like to contribute toward Ethan Sparagowski’s People-to-People Ambassador tuition, donations may be made to his account at any Coastal Bank and Trust branch.
