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How Chelsea Clinton Inspires Kids to Make a Difference with New Book, It’s Your World

October 21, 2015 by The Inside Press

Amanda with Chelsea Clinton at the Chappaqua Library book signing
Amanda with Chelsea Clinton
at the Chappaqua Library book signing

By Amanda H. Cronin

On Thursday September 24, I got the opportunity to speak with Chelsea Clinton about her new book, It’s Your World–Get Informed, Get Inspired, and Get Going! Chelsea is the Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, and is the daughter of our very own illustrious Bill and Hillary Clinton. Chelsea has traveled all over the world working on humanitarian projects where she met and was inspired by children of diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. In this, her first book, she talks about the ways kids can make a difference in our world, and how they already are. Here’s the exchange I was fortunate to have with her prior to her Chappaqua Library book signing.

Amanda: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me!

Chelsea Clinton: Thank you for being interested in It’s Your World!

Amanda: What inspired you to write this book now?

Chelsea Clinton: I continue to be struck by the curiosity of young people. Adults should recognize that young people are taking charge and are en- gaged in making a difference. Knowing that I was going to become a mom lent a greater urgency to writing this book because I felt even more of a respon- sibility. I wanted to empower young people to make a difference across our country and across the world.

Amanda: In your book, you say that, “more than anything else, education is an area where adults should listen to kids,” and that you hope that students “will speak up and speak out about what we think education should mean in our schools.” Can you please explain more about this?

Chelsea Clinton: Yes! Oftentimes people say to me, “What do you think kids should care about?” And I say, “Well, just ask kids, they’ll tell you!”

It’s up to us as adults to support kids in engaging in making a difference. I certainly think that that’s true in schools. Kids spend more time in school than they do at home, so trying to listen–actually, not even trying–listening to kids about what they want to learn in school, and how they think they’ll best learn in school, is something that I believe every adult should do.

Amanda: Millions of kids are being held back from going to school because of their gender, their economic hardships, or because there is simply no school around. We are very lucky here in Chappaqua to have such an outstanding school system. How can we help girls and boys around the world who don’t have the same educational opportunities?

Chelsea Clinton: Since 1918, every kid in the U.S. has had the right to a free public education. In a lot of countries, kids don’t have that right, or there is that right but it is not put into practice because there just aren’t enough schools, or teachers, or materials. Organizations that build schools and provide funding to train teachers are so powerful because they are solving problems in places where communities clearly want their kids to go to school. At Horace Greeley, something that you can do is to sponsor the building of a school!

Amanda: You seem to be really hopeful and optimistic about the capability of today’s kids to tackle these huge issues. Why do you believe that
we can?

Chelsea Clinton: Because you already are! I hope that is apparent for anyone that reads It’s Your World. Kids are already profoundly impacting such things as the health of their families, saving iconic species like elephants, and helping school environments become safer. The strong answer to your question is all the stories that I am so grateful to be able to share about kids who are making real, tangible, meaningful impact across the world today.

Amanda: Now a hometown question… Do you like visiting your parents in Chappaqua?

Chelsea Clinton: It’s a beautiful place, and my parents love living in Chappaqua, even more than they thought they would. My husband and I love visiting; it feels very much like home. It’s really nice now that I am a mom to have a place to go where Charlotte [her daughter] can crawl around on the grass.

Amanda: Yes, I love it too! Thank you so much for talking with me today!

Chelsea Clinton: Thank you!

Amanda Cronin is a junior at Horace Greeley High School. She is news editor of The Greeley Tribune, a student of Writopia Lab, and a member of the iMatter Youth Council. She hopes to one day make a difference in our world.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: book, Chelsea Clinton, empowerment, Inside Press, inspiration, Interview, theinsidepress.com, young people

From the Chapter: “Six Degrees of Hillary Clinton: My Chappaqua Neighbor”

October 16, 2015 by The Inside Press

Publication date: November 3, 2015 Ingram Publisher Services
Publication date: November 3, 2015 Ingram Publisher Services

An excerpt from Helen Jonsen, a contributing author to a new book, Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox, edited by  Joanne Bamberger.

“Election Day 2014 was the midterm election for the lame-duck years of President Barack Obama. Being self-employed, I avoided the crowds and waited until mid-morning to cast my ballot at our school polling place in Chappaqua, New York, often described as a leafy suburb an hour north of Grand Central Terminal. As I spoke to the volunteer to register, I heard the familiar voices of another voter or two who arrived next to me at the table. To my right were my neighbors, Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Bill Clinton. They, too, had come to meet their civic duty–to vote for our federal and state representatives, local judges, and governor.

We exchanged pleasantries and headed to the little kiosks to fill out our ballots. Secret Service men dressed as casually as the Clintons stood near them in the room. Little by little, others noticed them, but there was no press, no cameras. A number of people asked about their new granddaughter.

Outside, two black SUVs stood at the curb in the bus lane of the closed suburban school that serves as our polling place. When the Clintons came out alone, not in a hurry, I said hello again. They don’t know me well but for 15 years our paths have crossed both here in this berg and elsewhere. So we spoke for a while, not about politics but about mutual friends and acquaintances and local interests. Part of the conversation centered on how much they enjoy living in a town where their privacy has been reasonably protected and where they are comfortable dining, walking, shopping–even voting–without interruption (when reporters don’t have a reason to stalk them, that is).

I have been a television and digital journalist for many years, so I always walk a fine line when it comes to running into the Clintons. I don’t look for scoops but have sometimes been assigned to “cover” them. I am not paparazza. When not working, I’ve settled into the role of observer and neighbor, in their company when our paths cross. This has given me a glimpse into their lives and a perspective about them as people, rather than mere politicians, that others rarely get.

Fifteen years ago, when Hillary Clinton decided she would run for the U.S. Senate in New York, she went house hunting. Ironically, for me, it was the same summer my husband and I were looking for a new community for our family, complete with four children.

It became something of a running gag that Hillary seemed to be following us. I would spend a day with a real estate agent in a Westchester town, and the next day the newspaper would report Hillary had been house hunting in the same community. Our price range was more than a million dollars apart from the former first couple, but we seemed to be looking in similar areas. Finally, I thought I had outrun them by moving to Chappaqua, a town a little further afield.”

“To our surprise, that August weekend in 1999, as we unpacked a mountain of boxes in our new house, trying to find kitchen supplies, bedding, and kids’ shoes, helicopters hovered above our heads. Unbeknownst to us, the day before, the Clintons came to meet the owners of the white Dutch colonial on nearby Old House Lane and closed their own deal on a new home. They walked across lawns and introduced themselves to a few of the neighbors–ironically they were the only ones we knew before moving in. It was clear that sleepy Chappaqua would soon be on the GPS of every news desk in the nation and that Hillary and I were destined to share an adopted hometown. Not long after, the local Gannett newspaper headline read: “First Family of Chappaqua,” along with five articles about the house, the deal, the hamlet, and how life might change for the citizenry because of the new neighbors.

Bill Clinton would be in the White House for more than a year after the purchase, but he and Hillary took possession of the charming colonial in November. In those first couple of months, fences were thrown up, security updated, and Secret Service moved into a rented Cape Cod up the hill from us with access to the Clintons’ home via the driveway and backyard of other friends. Black cars and men in dark suits with curly cords tucked behind their ears became common sights.

Sleepy Chappaqua would never be the same.

There were plenty of things to complain about having the Clintons as our neighbors. Folks who owned homes more expensive than the Clintons or who lived in town for many years were concerned with the anticipated disruption. Some criticized Hillary’s perceived New York carpet-bagging and the intrusion of the press in their quiet town. The state posted “No Parking” signs along the town’s winding roads to keep gawkers at bay.

But when spring of 2000 came and her U.S. Senate campaign was well underway, First Lady Hillary surprised us with her desire to actually be a part of our community. We were delighted when she asked the Girl Scouts if she could march with them in our town Memorial Day parade. Just when we thought things might calm down as President Clinton came to the end of his presidency, on his last day in office, he became embroiled in a pardon controversy. The press swooped in as never before. Live TV trucks parked in front of our supermarket and train station…”

Helen Jonsen is the creative founder and chief storyteller of HJ Media, a consultancy & roll-up-your-sleeves firm focused on media-training, video production, digital, text and social media preferably for “social good.” She is hoping to see a woman in the White House her three voting-age daughters can be proud of (and so can her son).
Visit www.hjmediaconsulting.com.

 

Filed Under: Book Excerpts, Just Between Us Tagged With: book, Hillary Clinton, Inside Chappaqua (Nov 2015), politics

Focus on the History of the Printing Press: An Upcoming Greeley House Children’s Educational Program

August 28, 2015 by The Inside Press

NY Tribune Printing Press-4

A new education program that the New Castle Historical Society & Horace Greeley House Museum will host on Sunday, September 27, 2015 ( 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.). This free, children’s education program will explore the fascinating history of the printing press and its great influence on society.

The program, which is co-sponsored by the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (one of the largest children’s book festivals in the metropolitan region), will provide participants with the opportunity to learn about the history of the printing press, Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune, journal writing in the 19th century, and about Chappaqua’s many own children’s book authors.  Program participants will have the opportunity to see one of Greeley’s actual type stands, and to use mini-printing presses to make their own book pages to take home.

Filed Under: Happenings Tagged With: book, Chappaqua, children

Excitement Soars for the 2014 Chappaqua 
Children’s 
Book Festival

August 16, 2014 by The Inside Press

book-authorsBy Dori Busell

The second annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival on September 27 at Bell promises to build on the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural event; about 80 popular children and young adult authors are scheduled to meet and mingle with their fans, sign books and read excerpts. A special promotion with Hall of Scoops will create a CCBF special flavor to be sold during September with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the event.

“We took a short break to catch our breath following last year’s event but fairly quickly began all the planning to make the 2014 festival an event that can’t be topped,” said Dawn Greenberg, CCBF’s executive tireless director.

Just some of the new authors attending to keep an eye out for at the 2014 Festival:

Diane deGroat: Diane deGroat is the illustrator of more than 120 children’s books and the author-illustrator of bestselling books about Gilbert, including Ants in Your Pants, Worms in Your Plants! (Gilbert Goes Green); Last One in Is a Rotten Egg!; and the New York Times bestseller Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink. Notably, deGroat is a former Chappaqua resident and spent many years volunteering at Roaring Brook;s library, which helped mold her stories and illustrations.

“Being surrounded by thousands of children’s books was like Christmas in a candy shop!” offered Diane deGroat. “I shelved and checked out books, but I also worked as “a spy” as I observed current gestures, attire and conversation among the elementary population.”

Christopher Healy: There’s a lot you don’t know about Prince Charming, at least according to Christopher Healy, author of the Hero’s Guide trilogy: The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, and The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw. Each book, targeted to grades 3-7, follows four different Prince Charmings after their well-known fairy tales end and the comedic adventures that occur after the happily ever after.

Peter Lerangis:Peter Lerangis is the author of more than 160 children’s and young adult fiction books, which have sold more than five million copies and been translated into 30 different languages. He is best known for the Seven Wonder series and author of two books in The 39 Clues series. His novel Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am, a collaboration with Harry Mazer, won the 2013 Schneider Award, presented by the American Library Association “for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for adolescent audiences,” and it was selected for the 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

Janet Taylor Lisle: Janet Taylor Lisle has published 16 novels for children and young adults, including Afternoon of the Elves, a Newbery Honor book and The Art of Keeping Cool, which won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Lisle turned to adult non-fiction in 2010, publishing a history of her early New England town, Little Compton: First Light Sakonnet, 1660-1820. A second volume, A Home By the Sea, 1820-1950, appeared in 2012.She lives with her husband in Little Compton, Rhode Island.

book-coversDoreen Rappaport:Doreen Rappaport is an award-winning author of 48 fiction and non-fiction children’s books that celebrate multiculturalism, the retelling of folktales and myths, history, the lives of world leaders and the stories of those she calls ‘not-yet-celebrated.’ Her books have received critical acclaim and awards for her unique ability to combine historical facts with intimate storytelling, and for finding ‘new ways to present the lives of well-known heroes‚’ like Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller and the Statue of Liberty.

Steve Sheinkin:Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of several exciting books on American history for young adults. His 2012 title BOMB: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, was awarded a Newbery Honor, won the Sibert Medal, the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His book The Notorious Benedict Arnold won both the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for nonfiction.

Robin Wasserman:Robin Wasserman is a young adult author of the Seven Deadly Sins, Cold Awakenings and Chasing Yesterday series. She also authored the Candy Apple series about surviving middle school. Robin lives in Brooklyn.

Dori Busell provides strategic communications counsel and media relations support to Fortune 1000 companies through her co., DK Strategic Communications. Dori lives in Chappaqua with her husband and two young children.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: book, Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, children

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