Courtesy of Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School
On Friday afternoon, Chelsea Clinton spoke at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School in Creve Coeur. During the Q&A portion of her presentation, a young student asked, "Will you ever run for president?"
"I hope people are asking you that question," she replied.
Clinton spoke to the school's third- through eighth-grade students during a stop on her book tour for the paperback release of her New York Times-bestselling book, It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going! The book is aimed at readers ages 10–14 and addresses some of today's biggest challenges, including poverty, food insecurity, and climate change. It also shares stories of young people across the globe working to improve their communities.
Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School was a fitting place to present Clinton's book, with the school's hands-on curriculum and goal of instilling social responsibility in its students. For example, last month, fourth-graders traveled to Jefferson City to meet with state legislators. Other students took a field trip to the South, where they learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and walked across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
"[Clinton's] book is basically the theme of our school," says Patty Bloom, the school's spokeswoman, adding that state Rep. Stacey Newman recommended that Clinton and her team visit the school.
Clinton shared stories about the inspiration behind It's Your World, her time in the White House, and how she hopes to inspire young people to make a meaningful difference. "One of the real hopes I have for It's Your World is that the stories I share are as inspiring to you as they are to me," she said. Clinton encouraged students to attend town hall meetings and volunteer.
She closed with an anecdote about a letter she wrote as a child to President Ronald Reagan. He was in west Germany at the time, and Clinton opposed his plans to visit a German military cemetery in Bitburg."I didn't think that an American president should go to Bitburg cemetery, where Nazis are buried, to pay his respects on behalf of our country," she said. The letter referenced her recent viewing of The Sound of Music, which garnered laughs from the audience.
Courtesy of Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School
Though she didn't receive a response from Reagan, the experience served as motivation for when she and her family moved to the White House, after her father won the election in 1992. Her parents asked her what she hoped to gain from the experience. She said she hoped that every child who wrote to the president would receive a response—and the White House soon added a unit of the Office of Presidential Correspondence focused on children.
"I do hope that children and young people will continue to raise their voices," she said.
Afterward, energetic students lined up to have their books signed.
"I liked hearing about the kids who did things that helped their family or helped prevent something," said fourth-grader Tzofia Dean. "And I thought the letter that she wrote to the president was cute."
Eighth-grader Aviva Kiernan said she felt motivated by Clinton. "She started at such a young age, and I just feel like I could do stuff, too."
