Kids listen to Bush Neal Wagner and Robert Leist were among SS. Peter and Paul School students who traveled from Door County to Appleton Tuesday to see President Bush (photo by Christine Nesheim). By Paige Funkhouser For The News-Chronicle APPLETON - When the principal of SS. Peter and Paul School, Mike Taylor, learned that President Bush would be visiting Appleton, he saw an opportunity to help broaden his students' perspective on politics. Taylor brought the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from the school in Institute, just north of Sturgeon Bay, to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Tuesday. Bush's speech, titled "Strengthening America's Economy," emphasized the need to find ways to help small businesses and entrepreneurs grow and prosper, and also emphasized the importance and benefits of the tax cuts Bush has made while in office. While the half-hour speech was described as an official presidential visit rather than a campaign event, the president delivered a stump-style speech that had an impact on the Door County students. "The President's comments about Saddam (Hussein), about either trusting a madman or defending our country, were cool," said student Brittany Jilot. Katie Leist said she thought Bush's ideas about keeping American jobs from going overseas were very progressive. "Exports are important to our country," she said. "But so our are jobs. If we didn't export businesses, we wouldn't have (employment) problems." Even though tax cuts and programs to help small business owners and entrepreneurs do not have a direct impact on the middle school students, they directly affect the students' parents, an impact the students do feel. "It's better to cut taxes so our parents don't have to pay as much," said sixth-grader Neal Wagner. Emphasizing the benefits and accomplishments the "No Child Left Behind Act" has made, as well as the impacts it has had on schools, Bush stressed the need for every American to take accountability for their own actions and to help the future generations be more productive citizens. The president reiterated his policy on bringing all children, especially minority children that are often deemed "hard to teach," up to the same levels as other, nonminority children. The Door County students had conflicting opinions on whether the act was beneficial for their peers or their schools. "I think the No Child Left Behind (Act) is really good," said Brittany Jilot. "It's good so some students don't get left behind in school." The middle school students know enough about demographic inequality to understand why it is important for Bush to address the issue of spending money on basic reading, writing and arithmetic programs. However, they also realize there is an academic difference between each student. "The No Child Left Behind program is a good idea," said sixth-grader Robert Leist. "However, it could hold some of the other kids down, hold some back." Taylor agreed with Jilot; he explained that SS. Peter and Paul school has received grant money under NCLB programs. "The money paid for a part-time reading specialist," Taylor said. "It paid for staff development programs on improving reading. Without the (NCLB) legislature, we'd be out 10,000-plus dollars." Seeing the president in person helped broaden their thinking about politics, said Taylor. "I think they'll (students) watch the news in a different way now," he said. "I think this helped them understand how accessible government really is. The bottom line is: If we don't teach them to be good citizens, we're in trouble."