You don’t have to be of voting age to be involved in politics. Some young Palisades students are already meeting local and national politicians and learning about activism. Joshua Corwin, a student at The Willows in Culver City, “has been bitten by the political bug” since attending the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston when he was 11, according to his father, Scott. In April, Joshua got the chance to meet former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton in Beverly Hills. “I have always wanted to meet President Clinton because of his work now around the world helping fight AIDS,” Joshua said in an e-mail to the Palisadian-Post. “He really seems to care about the children who are suffering, and that made an impact on me. Along with former president George Bush, he also worked to raise money to assist the survivors tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 1994 and Hurricane Katrina.” Joshua, who donated half of his allowance money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, said: “I felt like [Clinton and I] cared about the same things in this world’helping people who were not as fortunate as ourselves and making the world a more equal place with opportunity for everyone. “When my dad told me that I could finally have a chance to meet [the Clintons], I said, ‘Count me in’ before he finished his sentence,” Joshua continued. “Of course, when I met Sen. Clinton, I told her that I look forward to seeing her husband as the first gentleman in the White House. She laughed.” In his e-mail, Joshua, 13, described himself as “a strong debater” who often takes the side of the underdog. “I guess it’s just in my nature to fight for the issues that only a few people care about passionately.” A member of The Stop Global Warming Virtual March, Joshua is interested in the effects of global warming on our planet. “This is a subject that more people and companies should focus on instead of avoiding,” he said. “It seems smart to work on this now so that, in the future, we will be a healthier world and new jobs will be created to assist against global warming. “Politics, to me, means a way to change things for the better.” o o o Bernadette Zimmermann, a fourth grade student at Palisades Elementary Charter School, traveled with her class last month to the state capital and met Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Everybody was very excited!” Bernadette, 10, wrote in a letter to the Post. “When we got to the capitol at Sacramento, we had no idea that we would meet our state’s governor. This was such a surprise for everyone in my class! “Fourth graders from our school have been visiting the capitol for many years,” Bernadette continued. “However, this is the first time a group of students from our school actually spent personal time with the governor.” Bernadette’s father, Bernd, who is a longtime friend of Schwarzenegger, had helped arrange the visit. The students also toured the rest of the capitol, including the legislature and other parts of the state government. In a follow-up letter to Bernadette, Schwarzenegger wrote, “Thanks for coming to see me today in Sacramento! I hope you and your class enjoyed the tour of my office. I was very impressed by all of them, and you can tell them that, too.”
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