John Koskinen rushed to his morning meeting Thursday, toting a fuzzy yellow stuffed animal named "Earl" and his ubiquitous millennium countdown clock in the hopes he could entertain the crowd of 25 with props.
It may have been his smallest audience yet-not in numbers, but in height.
Before a backdrop of homework assignments and a poster regaling the wonders of photosynthesis, Koskinen, chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, spread his preparedness message to a group of 12-year-old seventh graders at Gunston Middle School in Arlington, VA. The visit came as the council unveiled a free, on-line Y2K lesson plan for teachers of grades 6-12.
The "Teaching Y2K" curriculum was designed by the Council in partnership with The New York Times Newspaper in Education Program and is aimed at educating kids about the issue and what they can do to prepare.
"Often the kids are the most computer literate person in their families," said Jack Gribben, council spokesman, adding that they hoped the students would go home and teach their families what they learned.
Koskinen fielded questions such as "Will the bombs go off by mistake?" and "If I unplug my computer, can I stop the bug?" In turn, he queried the students about their greatest Y2K concerns, and received answers ranging from the stock market to the potential loss of computer games.
Enrichment teacher Linda Allen, who was contacted to host the event, came in on her day off so her class could hear the lesson. Although she was in the middle of teaching "Hamlet," she has taken a few days to explore the Y2K issue, assigning students to read articles listed on the Koskinen panel's Web site.
The students aren't panicked, Allen said, but the visit has sparked their interests. On Wednesday, the class held a spirited discussion about the potential problem.
"Usually for most twelve-year-olds, 'Do my shoes match?, How do I look today?' is a bigger problem," she said.
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