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Everyone settled back into their seats.
“You are probably wondering why I’ve come here today,” the president said.
Marvin had been wondering that.
“Well, I want to talk about what it means to be a good citizen. Who knows what a citizen is?”
Lots of hands went up in the air.
Marvin didn’t raise his hand. He thought he knew what a citizen was, but he didn’t know how to say it.
“Yes?” said the president, looking at Melanie.
“A person,” said Melanie.
“Very good answer,” said the president. “A citizen is a person. But is there a difference between a person and a citizen?”
Melanie shrugged.
“Anyone know?” asked the president.
Some hands started to go up, but then came back down.
Clarence raised his hand.
“Yes,” said the president.
“Do you have a dog?” asked Clarence.
“Yes, I do,” said the president, “but that’s not what we’re talking about now.”
Mrs. North gave The Look to Clarence.
“Who can tell me the difference between a person and a citizen?” the president asked. “How about you, Marvin?”
Marvin couldn’t believe it. The president had remembered his name!
He tried to come up with an answer. He didn’t want to let the president down. “Um, well, if you’re a person, it’s like you’re alone. A citizen is part of something bigger, like a country?”
He didn’t know if that made sense or not.
“Exactly right!” said the president. “We are not alone. We are all part of a big group. That group is called the United States of America.”
Marvin smiled. He wasn’t sure if that was what he had meant when he said it, but it made sense when the president said it.
“America is not just a place on a map,” the president said. “America is made up of all of its citizens. If we want America to be a great country, it is up to every single one of us—me, you, Mr. McCabe, Mrs. North, Marvin—to be good citizens.”
The president asked the students if they could think of ways to be good citizens.
Casey Happleton raised her hand.
“Yes, ma’am,” said the president.
Casey smiled, then got serious again.
“Help people who need help,” she said.
“Very good.”
