Mount Madonna students meet Clinton

'Symbolic moment' concludes ten day trip to Washington, D.C.

Sentinel staff report

The chance to meet President Bill Clinton came just three hours before Mount Madonna School students were to catch a flight home from Washington, D.C., but it was an opportunity too good to miss.

Fortunately, their flight was delayed an hour and the students who interviewed 22 government officials in the nations's capitol, were able to eke a last memorable moment out of the trip.

The students, all juniors and seniors, made the trip as part of the school's Government in Action Program. The students spent the last year preparing for the trip, taking classes in government and politics, and researching the people they hoped to interview.

A highlight of the trip, teacher Ward Mailliard said, was meeting with several representatives of the President's Interagency Council on Women. Among the council members interviewed by the students were Secretary of Health and Human services Donna Shalala, and Melanne Verveer, the first lady's chief of staff, and special assistant to the President.

The students were waiting to meet with Melanne Verveer at the White House when they ran into Secretary Shalala who they had interviewed earlier in the week, Mailliard said. Secretary Shalala arranged for the students to attend a presidential speech in the Rose Garden where Clinton was being recognized for his appointment of peoples of Asian ancestry to government posts.

The students listened to speeches by the President and Norman Mineta, a former Congressman from San Jose. After the event, the President shook hands with the students and happily agreed to a photograph. 'It was a symbolic moment," Mailliard said. "It was symbolic of the quality and effort the students made that set up the opportunity."

Students have posted interviews, summaries of events, and photos from the trip to the school web site. At www.mountmadonnaschool.org . They are also working on getting their original research posted so that other students and interested community members can access the material.