A.C.T. Student Reflects on Congresswoman Schakowsky's Visit

On April 30th, the students involved in ACT had the amazing opportunity to have a round table discussion with Congresswoman Schakowsky to talk about rights, especially children’s rights, around the world.

The discussion began with the Congresswoman reading an entry that she put into the Congressional Record. I was shocked as she was reading about our fundraising efforts for A Better Life for Kids and the orphanage in Ghana, and I was overjoyed to hear someone who has such a huge influence read the names of ACT members out loud, as she wrote them in the record.  It really showed that she cares about our work for the orphanage and that she is a supporter of everything that we have done thus far.

After that emotional moment, two of my peers that are ACT members showed the Congresswoman a slideshow that talked about the deaf schools in Ghana and what the money that we raise goes towards. It also had pictures and descriptions of all of the various fundraising work that we have accomplished this year. She had some questions about how some of our fundraisers worked and about where we are in funds compared to last year when she last visited. But she definitely seemed very impressed by all of the work that we are doing, and I think that the most impressive thing for her was that kids that are truly leaders were so passionate about the cause and were doing all of this work.

After watching the slideshow, ACT members had the chance to ask the Congresswoman questions about many different topics ranging from what ACT can do in the future to increase the money raised next year to world peace to why she wanted to be in Congress. When we asked her about what ACT can do in the future, she talked about businesses and families donating money and possibly having levels representing different amounts of donations to motivate people. She also talked about how the ACT members should be asking around Skokie at various businesses to donate money because it is much harder to say no to a kid that is so involved and passionate with a good cause versus an adult. She also talked about why and how she became a congresswoman. She said that she was a state legislator for eight years and that when she became a congresswoman, she was replacing someone who was no longer in office.

She talked about how she got married at age 20, and how then food products didn't have expiration dates on them, and how hard it was as a mother trying to put healthy and nutritious food on the table. We then asked her about what types of choices society should be making in order to improve the impact that we have on others. Her answer was that everyone should create their own environment and continue to reach out and help others. Also, if you want to make a change, everyone needs to realize and understand that we have to make that change. From the world standpoint, she mentioned that we need to strengthen the world architecture, raise the status of women and help everyone get the education rights that they deserve. 

It was truly an amazing experience getting to meet her and to hear her fantastic ideas about what ACT can do to make sure that all children in this world have the rights that they deserve! It is an event that I will never forget, and I hope that she will continue to support ACT and A Better Life For Kids, and continue to mention us as we continue to strive to make a better life for kids. I will be going on to high school next fall, but I can't wait to hear about the different fundraising ideas that she mentioned that will help us double our grand total every year. I want to thank her for coming and I hope that she had a great experience at McCracken and will continue to come back to see the results of the work that we do!

Nora