Feinstein Takes Roll at Fenton Elementary

Perhaps boosted by her experience dealing with politicians in Washington, Sen. Dianne Feinstein proved Thursday that she knows how to talk to children.

Playing teacher for a morning, Feinstein knelt down beside 7-year-old Henry Diaz as he scribbled “I will not talk during silent reading” 10 times on a piece of paper.

“You want to know something?” she asked the second-grader at Fenton Avenue Charter School. “I talked too much in school, too. What’s your name?”

“Henry.”

“Hi, Henry. I’m Dianne.”

The Democratic senator from California toured Fenton for about 90 minutes during a swing through Los Angeles. She made no policy pronouncements. She made no speeches. But she made an impression.

Feinstein seemed like a natural as she floated from one classroom to another, her personal handlers and school administrators in tow. Her mission was to get an up-close view of the charter school, which is free from the rules that govern other public schools.

An unhappy Henry had been listlessly writing “I will not talk” when she came up to him. “You’re going to get good grades in school,” she said, trying to boost his spirits. “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

“A policeman.”

“That’s good.” Then it was on to the next room.

“Hello, tell me what you’re doing,” she said to a first-grader who was typing sentences on a computer. “Can you write, ‘I see you’?”

The little girl pecked at the keyboard with her index finger as the adults watched in a hush.

“How about cat, dog, mother? That’s a hard one.” C-A-T and D-O-G were easy, but Feinstein quietly sounded out the letters as the girl typed M-O-T-H-E-R.

Students in some classes greeted Feinstein with speeches on cue cards.

“Senator Feinstein, on behalf of all the boys and girls and teachers in Room 22, we would like to welcome you to Fenton Avenue Charter School,” 9-year-old Merqui Absalon told Feinstein. The senator beamed.

One class of fifth-graders engaged Feinstein in a combined civics lesson/newscast in a former supply room that serves as a broadcast studio.

Feinstein took her place at a lectern and students fired off questions.

“What does a senator do?” one asked. “I help make laws that apply to everybody in the United States,” Feinstein told the students.

But some students in other classes seemed bewildered by Feinstein’s presence.

“Do you know where I work?” she asked one group of fourth-graders. “The White House,” one responded.

“Do you know the largest state in the country?”

“New Mexico?”

Actually, that’s Alaska. But the students rose to the occasion when the subject turned to world geography, correctly answering Canada, Mexico, Pacific Ocean and China to various questions. Again the senator beamed.

In the end, school administrators got more than just a visit from a high-ranking Washington dignitary. They secured a pledge by Feinstein to check on the status of a $1.6-million federal grant the school is seeking to provide computers for every third- and fourth-grader.

Every fifth-grader already has a computer at the campus.

“Know that you have a friend,” Feinstein told the school’s administrators as she departed. “If I can help in any way, let me know.”