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CALUMET -- About 100 students from Calumet, Lake Linden, and Horizons High Schools participate in the North Star battalion Junior ROTC program.  Their physical fitness and leadership skills are regularly tested, but for the first time in the program's history, eight cadets will get the opportunity to travel abroad.

This June they'll attend the Army's Cadet Leadership Challenge Camp in Germany.

"You may be deathly afraid of heights or water, maybe you've never canoed before, but you still have to be in charge of others, and that provides challenges and also unique leadership opportunities," says Senior Army Instructor, Major Michael Farley.

Major Farley says the selected students, most of them high school juniors, are the best of the best.

"I’m really excited to meet with cadets from the other countries,” says Kelsey Coon, a junior at Calumet High School.  “It won't be the same everyday things we do here."

Major Farley hopes the trip will become an annual event but knows it'll take a lot of organization and continued support from the community.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the students,” Farley says.  “The support we get, not just in the ROTC, but in the entire school system, is phenomenal."

In addition to the camp, the students will take a college course on cultural and international studies to enhance their overall educational experience.  And when they return, each cadet will give at least one presentation to the local groups who are supporting their trip.