BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer
HAZLET — George Bush never goes anywhere alone, traveling instead in a huge motorcade with plenty of security.
Although Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina has a big job as well, he doesn’t have the traveling party or means of transportation that the bigwigs in Washington do. Maybe somebody should have told the students at the Sycamore Drive School.
“The kids wanted to know if I had a limo with me at all times,” Azzolina said. “I think I disappointed some of them by telling them that [I don’t.]”
Otherwise, Azzolina’s trip to the school last week went well as he spent time talking to fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders about what his job entails and how things get done within the state government. The visit by Azzolina (R-Monmouth/Middlesex) was part of America’s Legislators Back to School Program.
Azzolina is the second elected official to come to the school in recent days, with state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos having dropped by two weeks ago. School principal Joan Karasick noted that both men offered similar presentations.
“They both discussed what their job is all about and what goes on during a typical day in their lives,” Karasick said. “And just like last time, the kids had a mock presidential election, with Bush winning it yet again.”
Although it was his first time to the school, Azzolina thought the kids got something out of his visit.
“I found that kids are interested in this kind of stuff,” Azzolina said. “They were very attentive and had plenty of good questions for me.”
Besides asking about his mode of transportation, there were some other thought-provoking questions raised.
“I had told them that besides working as an assemblyman, I was also in the U.S. Naval Reserve for 42 years and I was also a legislator and I was in business as well. So of course, somebody asked, ‘How’d you do all of that at the same time?’ I just told them the truth — I have no idea how I pulled it off, but I did.”
Azzolina, 78, aspired to be a fireman as a youngster, but eventually took a different path in life, one that he is thankful that he chose.
“As I moved forward in life, I realized that I wanted to do something different. I would always advise kids to listen to their parents and teachers. You often change your mind as you learn more, and these are the people that you could learn the most from,” Azzolina said.