Preckwinkle teaches area youths about government

SOUTH HOLLAND | Add civics teacher to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's resume.

Preckwinkle on Thursday visited Christ Our Savior School, 900 E. 154th St., as part of the school's government day program, and she spoke to sixth- through eighth-grade students about what government does.

At various points during her talk, she questioned the students about the three branches of government and what tasks are performed by Cook County government, as opposed to local, state or federal governments.

"You should be proud of yourselves," Preckwinkle told the students. "I recently spoke to students at the University of Illinois, an honors class, and nobody there could tell me anything about what county government does."

Among county government tasks are collecting property tax revenues for local governments, managing a health care system and county hospitals, and overseeing the court system and county jail.

The latter aspect caught the attention of many of the students. Several peppered her with questions about the way the jail works and why it was such a violent place.

Preckwinkle told the youths they should make every effort to control their behavior, so that they would never do anything that would get them put in jail.

"What I'm about to say is discouraging," she said. "Many of the people in the jail look like us. They are black and brown young men who got themselves in a lot of trouble.

"That's why it is particularly important for you to behave," she said. "Jail is not a place where you want yourself, or any of your friends, to be."

Among other government officials who spoke to students on Thursday was state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, who spoke to third- and fourth-graders and gave them coloring books with his name and face on the cover.

Jones, who also sits on the City Council in Calumet City, spent time telling the students about some of the food drives he has conducted to feed needy people, and seemed pleased when he was told that some of the students had helped to contribute food to such drives.

"If you want to help me feed the homeless, you're welcome," Jones said, adding he thinks it important for young people to learn about the less fortunate. "Whatever it is (they) take for granted is something that somebody needs," he said.