The Edwardsburg Public School Board recognized student Nick Karamalegos at its meeting Monday night.

He is the son of Themelis and Peggy Karamalegos and a junior at the high school.

Karamalegos was chosen to represent the United States in Washington D.C. at the Bridges of Understanding Conference.

As a student in Jeff Kozinski’s civics class, Karamalegos was involved in the Global Nomads project through Bridges of Understanding, a not-for-profit organization that, according to the website, seeks to “foster stronger relationships between the United States and the Arab World.”

Kozinski’s students partnered with a municipal school in Israel. The Edwardsburg students met with students from the Israel school virtually in “Youth Talk” and discussed global social and political topics.

“Nick was a great leader in the class,” Kozinski said.

“It taught us that we really weren’t any different,” Karamalegos said. “Sometimes you don’t know what’s under the headlines. The program taught us how to analyze different media…it teaches you to open up and don’t judge people.”

Karamalegos became a finalist to represent the US after submitting an essay on how dialogue promotes global citizenship and how his views changed after participating in the program.

In his essay, he also discussed the role social media plays in connecting students and the importance of using social media.

Karamalegos learned he was a finalist after waiting all last summer for the results, and then met virtually with Faisal Al-Juburi, the CEO of Bridges for Understanding.

“I learned you have to network,” Karamalegos said. “People aren’t going to talk to people who don’t want to talk to them. You have to talk to as many people as you can. And you have to educate others on what you know.”

“All my life I planned to study a science. But when I went to Washington I thought it was nuts. Now I plan to study international relations.”

Karamalegos outlined four steps for becoming a global citizen beginning with recognizing that part of you is global whether it’s the food you eat or what you watch. Next, he said you have to expand your definition of community beyond Edwardsburg or the state to global. Third, you have to advocate for change, and finally, you have to engage — build awareness in schools and the community.

“One person can make a big impact,” he said. “One person by himself isn’t going to change the world right away, but together we can make a difference.”

Also at the meeting, CFO Anne Flautt highlighted what she called “insignificant changes in the general fund.” While there was an increase in revenue of $279,000, it was offset by an increase in expenditures of $255,000.

The increase is attributed to a 25-member increase in the student population, and the added expenditures mostly come from increased spending in curriculum support for science and math. However, with the added revenue, they were able to reduce the deficit by over $24,500.