Regardless of whom voters favor in the presidential race, Zach St. Clair and Gus Hopkins hope to be there to greet the winner on Inauguration Day.
The Iola teens both were awarded partial scholarships through the National Young Leaders Conference to attend the Jan. 20, 2013, inauguration in Washington, D.C.
The key word for both is “partial.”
They’ll need to raise a combined $5,000 to pay for the rest of their tuition, plus travel and lodging expenses.
St. Clair, 14, and Hopkins, 13, are doing more than just asking for handouts.
The pair of offered themselves for hire to anybody in the community in need of assistance with odd jobs.
They will mow lawns, paint, clean up yards, sit or walk pets, babysitting or wash cars and windows.
“You name it, we’ll try it,” St. Clair said.
St. Clair and Hopkins, who will be freshmen at Iola High School in the fall, were selected for the NYLC in the seventh grade.
Participants are nominated for the conference by school faculty — in their case, IMS social studies instructor Roger Carlin — for exhibiting leadership qualities and other traits in and out of the classroom.
They attended a leadership conference in Washington last year on separate dates. St. Clair attended in the spring; Hopkins in the summer.
Their fundraising efforts will accentuate a summer already filled with activities for both.
St. Clair recently capped a month-long effort on stage through the Allen Community College Summer Theater in the Park production. Hopkins, meanwhile, is busy preparing livestock entries and other exhibits for the upcoming Allen County Fair.
Hopkins has no special preference for what kind of jobs he’s seeking; St. Clair does.
“I’ve always loved animals,” he said. “I’d love to get jobs babysitting pets.”
Neither spent much time following the presidential election goings-on until receiving their invitations to the inauguration in May.
