Twelve-year-old Sasha Horn concedes he doesn`t care much for George Bush`s style of politics. But the 7th-grader wasn`t about to turn down a chance to attend the presidential inauguration.
Horn and 14 other students from North Shore School on Chicago`s North Side are heading to Washington Thursday for a four-day tour of the nation`s capital. They will watch the inaugural ceremony and parade Friday from a special ticketed section on the west front lawn of the Capitol.
”It`s a very good educational experience for me,” said Sasha.
”Attending the inauguration is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
To prepare for the trip, pupils at the private elementary school have been studying the electoral process and discussing the issues surrounding the presidential election for the last six months. They also wrote essays on the historic sites they will visit in Washington.
Students who won`t be going to Washington will take a field trip to the Milwaukee County Museum Thursday and will watch the inauguration on televison Friday. All the students are required to write a paper on the event.
”This is a wonderful opportunity for them to see their lessons in action,” said Frances Wilkinson, director of the 50-year-old school at 1217 W. Chase Ave. ”We feel this experience will be carried through life and will make the electoral process more important to them.”
Republicans may have a stronghold in Washington, but at North Shore, Democrats definitely are in control. In a mock election last November, the 186 pupils at the school overwhelmingly chose Michael Dukakis for president. Most of them said they favored the Democrats` positions on abortion and social programs for the needy.
”I felt Dukakis was the sort of man who would go out of his way to help the homeless and poor. Bush seems like a rich, greedy character to me,” Sasha said.
Jennifer Holt, 13, the only one in the Washington-bound group who voted for Bush in the school`s election, said she is impressed by the president-elect`s knowledge of foreign policy. She said she also appreciates the youthfulness Dan Quayle will bring to the White House as vice president.
”When you ask a kid something, he will have a different point of view.
(Quayle) is not a kid, but he`s not as old as everybody else,” said Holt, an 8th-grader.
”We started studying the Constitution last year … and it sounded so important to be there and see the president who is going to run our country for the next four years be sworn in.”
Aron Washington, 12, is eager to see the Smithsonian Institution, which he describes as ”like going to see a Guinness world record.” But he said the prospect of voting in a real election when he turns 18 is not so appealing.
”I don`t really want to vote. This time I didn`t like either candidate,” said Aron, a 7th-grader. ”I voted for Dukakis because he`s a Democrat.”
The 4th through 8th grade pupils, who each paid $594 for the trip, held bake sales, collected aluminum cans and sponsored a rummage sale to raise a total of $2,000 to help defray the cost.
