Yesterday I telephoned into Ms. Ventura’s fifth grade class at Maple Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. The class was working on their exercises for the Census in Schools program and the students bubbled with questions about how the census works.

About ten of the students were assigned to interview me. Each asked a question, such as,
“How many people will you hire to help take the 2010 Census?” (Answer: over 1 million). “How do you count soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan?” (Answer: the Department of Defense provides counts of all soldiers stationed outside the U.S.).

They were filled with the excitement of all young minds and were clearly learning their lessons. I told them that I had signed over 200 million letters and that their households would receive one in early March. When I said that they all laughed and caught me in my white lie. We talked about how some kids live with their mom on some days and their dad on others; that they should be included in the house they spend the most time in and if they share equally, wherever they will be on April 1, 2010. We had a great time; they all shouted, “GOOOD BYE” when we finished.

Director Robert Groves