St. Charles girls set to witness history

While many 11-year-olds might be content just to read about past presidents in history books, Lily Lichner is so interested that's she's made it her business - literally - to witness the winning candidate take the oath in person.

Lichner and two of her friends from St. Charles will be among the lucky few to be in Washington, D.C., to watch a historic swearing in of a new presidential administration next January. All of them earned that honor through a lot of hard work, both in and out of the classroom.

For Lichner and her family, the process has become a journey, turning them into political junkies and leading them to delve into questions over the dinner table that are more about duty and destiny than daily life.

Lichner, Casey Gredzieleski and Taryn Dal Degan's path to the inauguration began with their selection to attend National Young Scholars summer camps at Northern Illinois University.

Teachers nominate students with exceptional performance to attend the camps. Those who go pick a topical area in which to immerse themselves for five days of learning while living in the dorms. Lichner chose crime scene investigation.

All alumni of the camps are invited to attend the 2009 presidential inauguration ceremony. With four years worth of alumni in the program, about 2,900 National Young Scholars from across the nation will be in Washington from Jan. 17 through Jan. 21. While there, they'll learn about the Electoral College and political campaigns. They'll also meet famed bicyclist Lance Armstrong; Dee Dee Myers, the first female White House press secretary; and Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest.

Lichner can relate to overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal as those three have. Her father, Rich, had been out of work for more than a year. Her mom, Betsy, is currently unemployed. And the classes and trip to Washington have a price tag in the thousands of dollars.

"We decided it was an opportunity that just couldn't be missed," Betsy Lichner said. "So we told Lily to figure out something - some way to make some money to help pay for the trip."

At 11, there are limited income options. She can't drive. She can't get a "real" job. But that didn't stop Lichner from going into business. She crafted a solicitation letter advertising her availability for cheap labor, which she hand-delivered to every home in her St. Charles subdivision. The letter explained she was trying to raise money to attend the presidential inauguration.

"When the first person called, she was in shock," Betsy Lichner said.

Indeed, Lily hadn't thought about what she should charge for her services. So she told her first potential customer she'd have to call back. Then mom and daughter went to work on a rough script of what to say when the business calls came in.

"I told her you say to them that you don't charge anything," Betsy Lichner said. "Her first reaction was, 'What do you mean? I thought I was doing this to make money?' I told her, you're 11. You don't charge anything. You tell every customer that your parents are asking them to pay you based on the nature of the job, your age and how well you perform."

It turned out to be a good selling point. Soon Lily was feeding cats, walking dogs, weeding, helping moms watch their children and any other task an 11-year-old can accomplish. She also did tasks around her own house to supplement her earnings. The result is a jar filled with about $600 of earnings to date, with more jobs rolling in.

But attending a presidential inauguration was about more than earning the opportunity for Lily. She wanted to understand it. That meant following the campaign process since April and willingly watching each night of both the Democratic and Republican conventions.

"It really brought an awareness to our family," Betsy Lichner said. "Even our 9-year-old is totally aware of who is running for president. At nine years old, I didn't have a clue, nor did I care. I just wanted to go out and play. Lily has raised a lot of questions from a middle schooler's point of view. And she certainly has opinions."

In the earlier stages of the race, Lily found herself drawn to Hillary Clinton because they share a gender. But as the race tightened and campaigns went negative, she found herself asking a question not uncommon to adult voters.

"One night she remarked that things were getting 'not so nice' in the Democratic race," Betsy Lichner said. "She asked, 'How do you know who to believe? Hillary says Barack believes one thing, and Barack says he believes something else.' We told her you have to pay attention all the way along the race."

Lily did, eventually picking her choice for who she wants to join her at the presidential inauguration.

"Obama, no question," Betsy Lichner said. "She believes Obama is going to win. She told me her gut feel is that Obama is the most genuine. She thinks that he cares about all of the people, not just wealthy people, and that he is going to make changes that will improve the economy."