CHILDREN, TEACHERS HAVE DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF RALLY

Fifth-graders from Bloomfield Elementary School got goose bumps when they saw President Bill Clinton Friday at Capaha Park.

"I didn't get goose bumps, I was just glad," said 10-year-old Dennis Gibson of Bloomfield. Goosebumps is the title of popular children's reading series.

The 60 elementary students wore yellow shirts emblazoned with a photo of Clinton and the words, "I get Goosebumps seeing the President."

Teacher Sheila Perry had the shirts printed as soon as she heard the president was visiting Southeast Missouri. The T-shirts also were a good way to keep the group together in the crowd, she said. Another group of Bloomfield High School students attended the rally.

But few students had the vantage point that Ryan Hendrickson had. Hendrickson, a junior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, was allowed to sit in the press box as a photographer for the school yearbook and newspaper.

"I'm not really nervous," he said before the president's arrival. "It's an honor to have a press pass and be part of the media."

Other students from Perryville schools joined Hendrickson in the press area.

But Tim Ward, a counselor at Franklin Elementary School, probably got the closest to the president. Ward stood near the stage and interpreted the speeches for the deaf.

"It was very exciting to be near these dignitaries," he said. "I'm sunburned and still coming down from all this."

Ward has been doing sign language interpretations since 1975, but has never worked for any political rallies. Normally, interpretation requests are for doctor's visits and churches.

"There were some difficult concepts to convey," he said. "It was a challenging assignment."

Ward didn't receive an advance copy of the president or vice president's speeches, so he had to interpret as they spoke. "At times it was very comfortable," he said.

Most of the interpretations were done in Pidgin English, which is a language that combines American Sign Language and English Sign Language.

Before the president arrived, five students from Southeast Missouri State University entertained the crowd with the "Macarena," a Latin line dance.

The students had been at the park since 6 a.m. filling balloons with helium and had talked about doing the dance, said Carrie Barthelmas, a junior at Southeast Missouri State University.

"We had been joking around about doing it and they said the only way would be if the president was late."

Since the president was a few minutes behind schedule, the students were able to dance.