Sixth-graders from rough D.C. neighborhoods complete FBI's junior special agent program

Washington, D.C. (Map, News) - The head of the FBI's Washington office on Friday swore in 148 junior special agents who demonstrated that they had what it takes: integrity, self-respect and the ability to discern between a salad fork and a dinner fork.

Over the last year, sixth-graders from some of the roughest neighborhoods in D.C. and Alexandria were exposed to new people and new places. They met FBI agents and businesses leaders who had overcame obstacles. They walked the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, visited Ellis Island in New York, saw George Washington's teeth at Mount Vernon, exercised at the FBI Academy at the U.S. Marine Corps Base at Quantico and learned table manners at a fancy restaurant.

"It was amazing," said Erika Ventura, 11, a sixth-grader from Bancroft Elementary School in Alexandria. "It taught us to stay on the right track, be honest, resist peer pressure, and the importance of integrity."

One of the most rewarding experiences, she said, was going to Baltimore to meeting with Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who made history in 1987 by operating to separate a pair of Siamese twins who were joined at the head.

"He lived a poor life, a hard life growing up. He made some bad choices but realized his mistakes," she said. "His slogan is 'Think big.' "

Malik Woods, 11, of J.O. Wilson Elementary in Northeast Washington, said he learned several "fun facts" about the dangers of smoking. His favorite? "A lot of people die from smoking each year. It showed me not to smoke."

On Friday, the students, wearing crisp white shirts and black ties and black pants or skirts, took the pledge to become junior special agents, promising to be good citizens and practice nonviolent behavior in handling difficult situations.

Joseph Persichini Jr., the head of the FBI's D.C.-area field office, attended all the field trips and helped in the classrooms, He called the mentor program "an insurance policy" that shows children there are other alternatives to the streets.

"You start that by building respect for life and showing that they have a future," Persichini said.

smccabe@dcexaminer.com