A TV INTERVIEW LIKE NO OTHER FOR GENEVA MAYOR

Elementary School Students Put Geneva Mayor On Weekly
Broadcast

GENEVA -- As President-elect Barack Obama prepared to address the
nation in his first post-election press conference, Mayor Kevin Burns
stood before a news camera broadcasting to a smaller, but just as
important, audience.

Burns appeared Friday on Channel 10 News, Harrison Street School's
building-wide cable TV network, to accept anti-drug pledges signed by
students' families during Red Ribbon Week.

Students produce the 15-minute live news show each Friday morning with
the help of teachers Becky Furnish and Mark Morrison.

"The kids were really excited when they found out the mayor was going
to be on the program," Furnish said. "They love seeing their teachers
interviewed, and this was an even bigger occasion because the mayor is
a public figure."

"It's a big deal because he's like the captain of our city," explained
9-year-old on-air reporter Max McCloughan.

Burns threw himself into his starring role, joking with the students
during rehearsal and complimenting them on their broadcasting skills.

"It's always an honor to work with such dedicated news people as the
Harrison Street School Channel 10 crew," he said. "Our network news
anchors could learn something from them."

Burns appeared at the request of Irene Cornelson, Harrison Street
School's Parent-Teacher Organization representative to the Geneva
Youth Coalition, which sponsors Red Ribbon Week.

"One of the coalition's suggestions for implementing Red Ribbon Week
in our individual schools was to involve a public official, so I went
with that," she said. "We sent notices home, so hopefully the kids
will be excited about seeing the mayor on TV this morning."

Cornelson's daughters -- first-grader Angie, third-grader Penny and
fifth-grader Gabby -- presented the pledges to Burns. "These Harrison
Street School families are pledging to make wise decisions and use
good judgment in their daily lives," Gabby Cornelson stated.

"I like the pledges because everybody in the family signs them, so it
puts the idea in parents' minds that they have to be responsible for
their own decisions to help their children stay off drugs," Irene
Cornelson explained.

Burns said he's never too busy to turn down an invitation to support
Red Ribbon Week in Geneva.

"Anytime I can assist and stand with students against drugs, I'm happy
to," he declared.