MOORPARK : Children Send Cartoons to Clinton

A class of Moorpark fifth-graders recently penned messages to President Clinton, but the White House-bound package included more than just letters.

The pundits-to-be also voiced their opinions and fears through political cartoons. Most of the Flory Elementary School students’ work focused on cleaning up pollution, teacher Darilyn Sisemore said.

Some students went a step further, rejecting arguments that jobs are more important than the environment. Cindy Rundgren, 11, drew a black factory spewing filth from its stacks, with skeletons standing nearby.

“First you need the Earth, then you can have jobs,” Cindy said.

In a cartoon by Angela Weeks, 12, a huge set of eyes looks over two people pulling dollars from a machine called a “money maker,” which is causing others to be sick.

Asked what the eyes represent, Angela said, “The people, I guess.”

Others used whimsy to make a point. Stephany Shelton drew a giant Pepsi can that blocks the path of a car.

“If you don’t recycle, a lot of the stuff is just going to get all over,” said 10-year-old Stephany.

Mike Munoz targeted the single biggest source of pollution in his cartoon, featuring a big car coughing exhaust into darkened skies. The car’s single occupant asks, “Who is causing all this pollution?”

A skeletal bird flying overhead calls back, “You are.”

Only Amanda Carr, 10, broke ranks with a non-environmental cartoon. She drew a taxpayer whose piggy bank is approaching an Internal Revenue Service agent, who stands ready to open it with a hammer in his hand.

She titled the work “Tax Break.”

Amanda said she got the idea to focus on high taxes “from my mom and dad talking about it.”

The students last month sent a book of the cartoons and letters to Clinton, Sisemore said. They haven’t heard back yet, but just knowing that they expressed themselves makes them feel important, she said.

“I want them to know they have a voice, no matter how young they are,” Sisemore said.