Downtown and Looking Up : Education: Fifth-graders from South-Central are introduced to L.A.’s sparkling urban towers and plazas. They are encouraged to look forward to high-rise jobs and a future that, for now, they can only glimpse.

Jason Faulkner peered out across the new East Wing of the Downtown Central Library at the humongous chandelier with the sculptured bird, flower and egg on top. “They make that by hand? All that stuff?” the 11-year-old inquired. “I like it but I want to know who wrote on that egg.” Sure enough, the egg bears the cryptic marking “topo”--which looks like graffiti but is really part of the artwork.

As tourists, the 110 fifth-graders from the 97th Street Elementary School in South-Central Los Angeles missed few details. They arrived Wednesday morning by school bus, squinting into the sunlight that streamed across the Watercourt of California Plaza. They marched dutifully down the steps into the plaza and arranged themselves on courtyard steps, where they were welcomed by a host of officials, including City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. But they were hardly the usual tourists and this was not the typical tour.

The idea was to introduce them to Downtown, a place they rarely go, and to what could become their future. Here would be a glimpse of the buildings (such as First Interstate World Center, the city’s tallest), the people, the art.

“I hope you look forward to the day when you can have a job Downtown,” said John Gray, executive vice president of First Interstate Bank.

“You might want to be a planner, an architect . . . a real estate developer,” said Herbert Marshall of the Community Redevelopment Agency, which co-sponsored the tour with the Downtown Marketing Council as part of an effort to establish links between Downtown and outlying neighbors.

It was a walking tour, but a lot of trotting was involved. “Come on, slowpokes!” teacher Otha Willis Jr. called cheerfully but crisply to the stragglers in the back of the line as it snaked across the street toward First Interstate World Center.

There was as much looking ahead as looking up to observe all the edges of the skyline. “The weather’s not as hot as where I stay,” said one student, Sharmaine Robinson. In the lobby of First Interstate they were met by a passel of name-tagged executive assistants who ushered them through the halls of the eighth-tallest building in the world. They giggled and held their ears as the elevators shot up 54 floors and then up another 12 to the vacant 66th floor. Once out of the elevators, they scampered with delight to the windows that surround the circular floor offering a panoramic, if hazy, view.

They peered down on a rooftop tennis court and pointed to a passing helicopter. “Oh, my goodness, I feel like I’m on top of the world right now!” 10-year-old Daisy Morales declared dramatically.

Some professed a fear of heights. “I haven’t been able to look down,” said Nyeisha Bryant, 10.

Treading the plush sea-green carpet of the 10th floor, the real estate division, they shushed each other repeatedly and walked silently past offices revealing lives they could see but not touch. “Feel free to look in the offices,” said George Lockhart, the First Interstate staffer guiding the tour. People in offices occasionally smiled or waved as they walked by. The tour never paused. “Ooh, pretty flowers,” said one girl as she passed a vase of red roses on someone’s desk.

“It’s nice, it’s beautiful, it has new things,” said 11-year-old Joannie Pineda as she left the building.

At the next stop, the Central Library, they walked past the fountain-lined entrance to the rotunda, where they were all given library cards. “As you grow up, you’ll find your life is embodied in plastic,” Marshall told them as he passed packets of library cards to their teachers.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” a teacher called as they scurried across Grand Street from the library to the Biltmore Hotel for a quick walk-through. They were told to note the ornate walls and ceilings.

“Wow, there’s a lady painting there,” said William Bias, 10, as he spied a woman high on a scaffolding gingerly touching up a portion of the ceiling.

“You’ve never seen a lady before?” Jason Faulkner ribbed him.

They filed through the hotel lobby in near silence as requested. They were model tourists.

“I’m glad people notice that,” said teacher Faye Walton. “I think a lot of people outside the inner city don’t have a good perception of us. You can see the apprehension in their eyes when you show up someplace. I say, ‘Excuse me, the children we bring are well-behaved.’ ”

They bounded out of the Biltmore toward Pershing Square just as the computerized carillon in the purple tower in the square rang out the noon hour. They grabbed box lunches and nestled in groups on the sunny grass. Turkey and ham sandwiches, fruit, cookies and potato chips. “230 calories!” cried one girl reading the grim nutritional facts on the bag of chips. She dug in anyway.

After lunch, Deidra Aubrey, who brought her camera, had time for one quick photo. A group of friends huddled together in Pershing Square, with the Biltmore in the background, and she snapped the picture.