A group of city students last month got a chance to learn how their local government is connected to world problems.

Eighth graders at Compton-Drew Investigative Learning Center are studying world issues such as global warming and toxic waste. The kids are looking to see if what they can do locally to improve these situations.

But, a trip to St. Louis City Hall last month also gave the kids a variety of information they plan to use in their personal lives.

For instance, 13-year-old Shannon Carr found out what offices she'd have to visit when she starts her own business.

Carr said, "I want to be the first black woman president of the United States. But, I also want to be a business owner. I want to have a chain of either restaurants or stores."

Therefore, on the city hall tour, Carr was on the lookout for those offices that give business permits or do inspections.

Whitney Meredith

Fifteen year old Whitney Meredith said she knew quite a bit about the form of city government. But, she said she enjoyed "seeing the city aldermen talk." The kids were on hand when the board of aldermen held one of their meetings.

The students got an extra bonus. The mother of classmate Joseph Burton works in the city building permits office. Lisa Burton took time to give the kids an "instant tour" of all four floors of the city hall.

Katherine (left) and Kristine Golden

Twins Katherine and Kristine Golden said the tour helped them better understand city government. Thirteen-year-old Kristine said she sees the government is "carefully planned and not just thrown together."

Fourteen-year-old Minh Chau Pham said an assistant to Mayor Francis Slay gave her names of people at city hall who could help with her class study. She said her team of five students are just about finished with their study of the "greenhouse effect" on climate.

Asked how her team will present their information, Pham said, "We were told to think out of the box. So, we're using dancing, poetry, singing and rapping in our presentation."

Minh Chau Pham

Desmond Holmes

Fifteen-year-old Desmond Holmes said his team is going to explain about toxic waste with a play. "We'll first throw out a lot of trash. Then, we think about it and come back and clean it up," he said. He said local people can help solve big problems.

Thirteen-year-old Margi Doshi said her team will explain global warming by doing a newscast. She said, "I'm going to be a scientist that they interview." Other team members include a news anchor, a reporter and a weatherman.

Margi Doshi

Thirteen-year-old James McClure said his team is studying deforestation. That's the problem of cutting down to many trees all over the world. He said destroying trees can hurt humans because trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.

He said his team will do a skit that has them riding on a bus talking about the problem. "Then, we'll act like we turn on the radio and do a rap song on deforestation," he said.

James McClure

Teacher Karen Turner led the field trip to City Hall. She's been teaching the combination science-math-literacy classes on world problems for five years. This class on local government is sponsored by Citizens' Education Clearinghouse Program (CECH) at University of Missouri-St. Louis' College of Education.

The CECH also sponsors classes on voting during election years. For instance, Young Saint Louis.com did two stories on state-wide voting by kids in September, 2000, and December, 2000. (If you'd like to read those stories, click onto the Past Stories tab at the top of the home page and call up those two editions.)

Like Shannon Carr, who wants to be president and a business owner, some of other kids had their career goals planned.

Minh Chau Pham wants to be a surgeon. She set her education goals high, hoping to go to either Harvard, Stanford or Yale. But, when she finished her medical education, she wants to return to St. Louis because "all my family is here."

Desmond Holmes want to be a paleontologist. He said, "I've got pictures of dinosaurs all over the walls in my room. And I've got video tapes of all three Jurassic Park movies."

The Golden twins also have career goals. Katherine wants to be either in science or psychology while Kristine would like to be in forensic medicine with the FBI.