'The Jeb Bush Nobody Knows' -- Part 16: A young FL homeschooler's interview with FL's Fabulous Gov

The St Petersburg Times ^ | May 20, 2002 | Intro by summer; Interview by Autumn Siegel

[summer]

Note to FR:

I was so moved by reading "My Adventure in Miami with President Bush" -- the recent essay written by Andrew, FR's own 15 year-old writer who posts as "walrus954" -- that I was inspired to turn over my space here to another talented young writer.

Consequently, Andrew, and everyone else, please say hello to: Autumn Siegel, a FL homeschooler who recently interviewed Gov. Bush.

I hope you all enjoy this interview, below. (I know I did!)

Sincerely,

summer :) -- a former Dem, now an independent and a FL certified teacher


FL homeschool student and budding journalist, Autumn Siegel, left, along
with a FL newspaper staff member, at a journalism conference --
as explained HERE.

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Monday, May 20, 2002
St. Petersburg Times



An online interview with Governor Bush

By Autumn Siegel

As a homeschooled student enrolled in the Florida Virtual School, the online high school that has served students across the state for the past four years, I got the chance to interview Gov. Jeb Bush online for the Virtual School's newspaper, News in a Click. (Darn it, no photo op when you interview by computer!)

We talked about lots of issues that affect young people in Florida, from education to teenage smoking to politics. Here is an edited version of our conversation:

AUTUMN: Growing up in a political family, when did you decide that this would be the area that you would go into? What other fields had you considered?

GOV. BUSH: I first got involved in politics to help my dad, whom I truly love. I overcame my fears of speaking in public and began to understand the joys of service by watching my dad in his public service. In 1993 I decided to make the leap. I had been in the private sector until then.

AUTUMN: Has it been difficult to maintain your own identity instead of just being one of "the Bush boys?"

GOV. BUSH: I stopped worrying about what people think a while back and now focus on how I can serve and help others.

AUTUMN: Integrity is an important quality for all of humanity, but especially those who have achieved celebrity status as political figures. What suggestions do you have for the next generation of voters who are exposed to negative campaigning and apparent lack of morality on the part of some elected officials?

GOV. BUSH: Say what you are going to do and do what you said you would do. Don't veer from principle. Be honest with yourself. Show humility. Fight hard but fight fair.

AUTUMN: What do you think of such government-based shows as NBC's The West Wing? Do you feel that these give an accurate portrayal of political life?

GOV. BUSH: I don't watch The West Wing.

AUTUMN: The SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) program, which was founded under the Chiles administration, received a considerable budget cut in October, with a large portion of that money being redistributed to enhance road development. Do you think that it will be important to restore the funds for this program?

GOV. BUSH: The tobacco program is doing fine. We are spending $39-million. That was what was being spent last year. That is a lot of dough!

AUTUMN: If funding is not able to be replaced, what are some of the initiatives that can be taken to continue efforts to decrease youth smoking?

GOV. BUSH: Teen smoking is down in our state, which is a good thing.

AUTUMN: There has been a considerable amount of media coverage on the recent cell-phone controversy facing school districts across America. Some believe that students should be allowed to keep these devices on campus as long as they are not turned on; others protest that the phones are too much of a distraction. Where do you stand and why?

GOV. BUSH: I have not followed the issue, but now I will!

AUTUMN: Due to increased security after Sept. 11, do you think that there has been a decrease in youth involvement in the government, such as the TeenPact program for Christian homeschoolers, or the Senate page program?

GOV. BUSH: I have not noticed a decline in youth involvement. In fact, I think there has been more civic involvement than before that I hope can be sustained.

AUTUMN: Why do you think it is important to support the Florida Virtual School?

GOV. BUSH: It has the potential of helping to redefine education. It is student-centered and can be used in so many ways . . . remediation, honors-AP (advanced placement) classes for students who can't access them, etc.

AUTUMN: Do you think online learning would have been beneficial when you were growing up, or perhaps would have benefited your children?

GOV. BUSH: Gosh, I am so old I can remember black-and-white televisions! Online learning would have been very useful to me.

AUTUMN: Do you think the Virtual School will be able to issue diplomas to its students in the near future?

GOV. BUSH: I hope so.

AUTUMN: Many critics argue that Florida Virtual School is not an effective educational medium because of the lack of interaction among students and faculty. However, AP scores among Virtual School students exceed the national average by nearly 9 percent. What is your comment about this apparent contradiction?

GOV. BUSH: The Virtual School is not for everyone. But it is a good means to accelerate learning for kids who don't need as much attention.

AUTUMN: I am sure that you are aware of the teacher shortage facing Florida. What would you say to high schoolers or college students to encourage them to pursue a career in education?

GOV. BUSH: The laws of supply and demand apply to the teaching profession. There will be great opportunities in teaching in the next decade. Teaching is a very noble profession.

AUTUMN: What factors influenced your decision to attend the college that you did?

GOV. BUSH: I went to high school in the northeast U.S. and wanted to go back home, so I attended the University of Texas.

AUTUMN: What is something that you now know that you wish you would have known while in school?

GOV. BUSH: I know now not to be in quite the rush I was in back then. I graduated in 21/2 years.

AUTUMN: Your mother seems to be a pretty amazing woman. What is the most important piece of advice that she gave you, and have you shared this with your own children?

GOV. BUSH: Love my wife and children more than life itself. That is easy to do.

AUTUMN: What advice would you give to the siblings of particularly high achievers?

GOV. BUSH: Work hard.

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FL's hard working governor, Jeb Bush, online in the
interview above -- and working at Orlando's Dr. Phillips High School,
where he answered questions from Florida students.

[Boxsford]

summer, thanks for posting this and for letting me know about it. It's great!

[VA Advogado]

Bump Bump Bump. And please posts more pictures of that teacher of the year :)

[Sungirl]

Bumps to Jeb and education.

[okiedust]

Good article. This young person asked some good questions and I hope her career in journalism leads her to success. Thanks, and of course bumping you.

regards

[Joe Brower]

[EODGUY]

Promising journalist and straight shooting Presidential BUMP.

[TwoStep]

**Bump**

[Savage Beast]

David, please remove me from the ping list. Thanks. Good luck!

[ArneFufkin]

50% of the electorate who vote catatonically for Democrats election after election have yet to discover, as you did, that the Democrat Party no longer represents their interests or moral imperatives in any way. Blue collar trade unionists- especially Catholics in the Rust Belt - have absolutely no social or economic commonality with the gays, gun grabbers, anti-smokestack enviro nutjobs, tort lawyers, abortionists and white-Christian male hating zealots who ARE the Democrat Party in 2002. Al Gore and his party wanted to eliminate the internal combustion engine and end oil exploration; proliferate abortion; enforce Affirmative Action racial quotas that displace white males; open immigration floodgates that cheapen labor; restrict or outlaw privately owned guns; block tax reductions; remove God from schools to insert Gay and Lesbian dogma; seize and federalize recreational fishing, boating and hunting land; villify and ruthlessly tax tobacco use; fund pornography in museums and theaters; and politicize, corrupt and defund the military and its institutions. Gore took Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Jersey and AFL-CIO guys and gals voting Democrat were the difference. It's absurd.

Farmers in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin voted Democrat for Pres, they've voted Dems into the Senate in North Dakota, Florida, California and South Dakota ... even though Gore and his Dem gang's strident opposition to the repeal of Capital Gains and "Death" Taxes virtually ensures financial devestation and bankruptcy for an individual farmer's heirs - his wife, sons and daughters - upon his death. All the subsidies that these Dems throw at farmers will never equal the onerous Estate Tax that will be leveled on the assets of a family farm - most illiquid - left to loved ones upon the death of the patriarch. The Dems don't care about the Family farm or the folks who engage in that activity - capital gains taxes and Estate taxes based on "net worth" are fatal to a farmer's ability to create and retain any hard-earned wealth to pass to his kids and grandkids. ConAgra, Cargill, ADM, Green Giant etc ... they'll do just fine thank you. They'll probably pick up that little family farm at a deep discount. Dems are for the little guy, don't you know?

[tutstar]

bump for later

[Mixer]

Bump

[summer]

Nice to see.

Thanks, A CA Guy! :)

[summer]

Re your post #62 - Thank you, JS! :)

[summer]

Cultural Jihad, Thank you so much for your wonderful post here! :)

[summer]

You always do a fantastic job of getting the positive word out...that's so neat. O'Reilly has really been on Jeb lately...

Tatiebug, Thanks so much for checking out this thread. Speaking as an independent voter, I LIKE knowing something POSITIVE about a candidate I may want to support. Gov. Bush is someone who has a lot of positive qualities as a governor. He is so easy to support -- and promote -- in a positive way.

As for O'Reilly, I noticed that too -- we'll see what happens next....

[summer]

Re your post #65 - Thanks so much, Lancey Howard! :)

[summer]

Re your post #66 - big ern, My eyes are just about tearing up here on that reply from you. Thanks. :)!!!

[summer]

I am so glad they are examples for our youth now

Same here. As a teacher during Clinton, I always felt like our nation's leaders were MIA for our nation's youth. Thankfully it is a different time now.

Thanks for your post, patriciaruth. :)

[SoDak]

Always willing to help.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Quit your blubbering and get back to work.