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They were barely sitting in their seats, straining their bodies to glance down the empty hallway.“Is that the senator?” asked one student as a man was walking down the corridor. “No, that’s not him.” “Is that him?” asked another pupil. “No,” said several students in unison.These were the sixth graders of Roosevelt school in Chicago Heights. They wouldn’t be able to talk to the senator. But they did make a sign for him. Blazoned along the hallway were five overlapping, huge valentines with one large inscription: “Sixth Graders Love Percy Too.”IT WAS this sign that the senator first saw when he entered the hallway. “Isn’t that marvelous,” he said, obviously pleased with his welcome.Sen. Charles Percy entered the sixth grade room. Some of the children were giggling, others were wide-eyed. “I appreciate this, I do appreciate it. I’m sorry you’re not the fifth graders. But you wouldn’t want to go back to fifth grade,”Percy said.“Yeah, you’re right,” a few yelled.MEANWHILE, the fifth grade, the class chosen to interview the senator, was filing into the library. Each student carried a piece of paper. They were ready to meet the senator. The students had prepared questioas for their prestigious guest, without the help of their teachers.Percy, dressed in a dark blue pin-stripedsuit, greeted the fifth graders and faculty. James R. Bogan, school principal, was there. Mrs. Lillian Tkaczyk and Clifton L. Billups, both fifth grade teachers, were also in the library.The senator immediately quizzed the students on Congress, the courts and the President. Soon it was the students’ turn.RALPH VAN DYKE fired the first question. “Did you know anybody in the Watergate trial?”Senator Percy chuckled. “I knew almost everyone of them — Colson, Erhlichman, Haldeman,” said the senator, listing 10 more names. “And Nixon was in Watergate. I knew him.”“Why aren’t there enough jobs?” asked Elizabeth Carabay. This time the senator didn’t chuckle. He tried to simplify one of the most confusing concepts in the world — the economy.“Do you think you’ll be elected over and over again?” Nancy Straussel wanted to know. “I was re-elected once by a strong margin. But, now, because of my new Middle East policy, people who supported me before may not any more. I don’t think they understand what I’m trying to say,” he admitted to the fifth graders.PROBING INTO the future, one student asked, “Would you like to be President?” “Yes, under the right circumstances,” the senator replied. He then asked the students if they would like to be President. Percy, however, never explained “theright circumstances.’’Dan Martin queried the senator onforeign relations. “If Arabs cut off oil again, would you vote to aid Israel?”Percy told the students he wouldn’t “write a blank check.” But he would vote to help Israel survive, defend itself and conduct peace.Sandi Nykiel told Percy she wanted to ask a question for her father, who was a farmer. “What are you going to do about the grain prices?” Percy said thegovernment must release reserve acres so more grain can be grown.THE SENATOR'S hour was running out. He had time for one more question.“Who’s in charge?” asked one student.“Every senator is a senator in his own right. Even the President can’t give me orders. President Nixon tried manytimes,” Percy said. *“The questions I’ve had here are better than ’meet the Press.’ They should ask me such good questions. It’s been my pleasure to be here with you,” he said.The students dashed to the front of the room, clamoring for autographs. Eventually Percy left, but the students didn’t want to return to class. They lingered in the library to discuss the senator’s visit.“HE LAUGHS too much, and writes kind of funny,” said Sam Stabile.One little girl felt differently. “There aren’t any words to describe him,” she sighed, enamored by the legislator.“It was so nice that he came to our school. Why did he come to our school? I feel very lucky,” said Elizabeth Carabay.“Are we ready, ladies and gentlemen?” inquired the teacher. “We must go back to class,” Billups reminded his students.-Finally the children wandered back to their classrooms.Except for one little girl. She was the last to leave. The senator didn’t ask for my question,” she said sadly, “hut can I give you my name anyway? It’s Karen Schmeich.Sen. Charles Percy listens closely to one of the questions presented to him by fifth grade students at Roosevelt school in Chicago Heights. The youngsters interviewed the senator for an hour Monday when he visited the school. Percy said the questions the students asked were better than the ones he has faced on the “Meet the Press” television program. t
Newspaper Details
Hazel Crest Star
Hazel Crest, Illinois, US
Thu, Feb 13, 1975
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Karen P.
IL, USA 03 May 2021
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Hazel Crest Star
