Kids report on the presidential race

His classmate Zachary Speigel recalls asking McCain about the rising cost of college: "I asked this huge, five-minute question about education, and he was just stunned and said, 'How old are you?' " Zachary says with a wide-eyed laugh.

McCain went on to answer "that we definitely need to at least try to put the prices down, because kids like us need a good education," he says.

Many student reporters have told Ms. Freeman that they're disappointed the candidates aren't talking more about education. "They say to me, 'They must think NCLB [the federal No Child Left Behind law] is working,' " she says.

Freeman selects kid reporters based on the originality of essays they write about their communities.

"I look for the kids that go beyond [descriptions of] tourist attractions," she says. One student stood out by writing about Portland, Ore., as a bicycle city, with all the issues that raises, such as bike safety and environmental benefits.

Freeman gives them a run-down on how media events work and the basics of interviewing. Some of the key lessons: Look people in the eye. Never ask a question that can be answered with just a "yes" or a "no." Report the facts, not your opinion or emotions after hearing a charismatic speaker.

True to their training as objective journalists, the kids in New Hampshire wouldn't let on if they had any favorites in the race for president.

The idea of having kids do the reporting for Scholastic came to Freeman during the presidential race in 2000. The first kid reporters were from Beaver Meadow, where principal Roger Brooks had already trained some students to do local reporting.

Now the Scholastic Kids Press Corps reports on other news, too, not just elections. "They're really now like the bureau chiefs for Scholastic News and Junior Scholastic magazine," Freeman says. "They've interviewed [Supreme Court] Chief Justice John Roberts and Tom Cruise – the whole gamut."

As music pumped up the crowd at the Obama event, the red-shirted foursome scanned the crowds for good photos. They barely took notice as a snowman walked by – they'd seen him at other election events, trying to draw attention to global warming.

Principal Brooks, a tall man wearing an American flag tie, occasionally helped with equipment, but otherwise he stood back and watched.

"When they think back at the Beaver Meadow experience, I want them to think of days like this and ... kind of crystallize their whole experience of being an elementary school student," Brooks says. "The most important thing we teach in elementary school is communication skills.... Being an actor on stage, giving a speech, coming out and asking a question ... [in those situations] the learning stays with the kids a lot longer."

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