Jesse White

I don't just work with these kids to make them good tumblers or good dancers. I'm working with them to make them good citizens - to become taxpayers, not tax-eaters. I teach them to say please and thank you. I show them how to use a knife and fork and how to fold a napkin.

The youngsters who live in housing projects are some of the most talented and nicest kids you'll find anywhere. But they're right on the cutting edge - they could go either way. You have to work with them, guide them, and mold them like a piece of clay.

I just believe that when we work together, wonderful things are going to happen.

I'm the longest-serving secretary of state in Illinois, but I also want to go down in history as one of the best they've ever had. I will work every day toward that.