By SUSAN PARK

"In an unprecedented move, Washington State Co-Speaker of the House of Representatives Frank Chopp was sent back to kindergarten..."

That was the headline that went through my head at the B.F.Day Elementary School auction at the Adobe complex in Fremont one year ago when our beloved State Representative Frank Chopp was getting close to being the highest bidder for becoming "Principal for a Day." The price was rising quickly. Chopp and his wife were sitting a few feet away from my husband Clayton and me. I could hear them whispering about what their limit would be.

I sprung into action. I whispered to Chopp: "If it goes higher, we'll pay the difference. It'll make a great story for the Maven."

A year later, Chopp was finally able to serve his sentence of "Principal for a Day." On one sunny May Friday after the House session had been completed, Chopp showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to take on his first task of bus duty. The "real" principal, Susan McCloskey, stuck around and looked over his shoulder.

Today was also Village Market Day, a day when kids got together to sell their handmade items and learn all about the joys of quality control in manufacturing, pricing, and supply and demand in our capitalistic driven society. Cardboard booths were set up all up and down the hallways of the three story building. It was the principals' job to make sure everything went smoothly as kids made deals with other students and parents with colored monopoly-like money.

That afternoon, when I entered B.F.Day with my camera looking for Chopp, I was beckoned by a hat maker. "This would look perfect on you," she said as she put a bright orange hat decorated with yellow plastic daisies and pink beads on my head. Chopp, wearing his own charcoal gray floppy hat, saw me and came over to rescue me. He bought me the hat for a cool light blue colored ten -spot.

"What have you done so far today?" I asked. I was burning to ask him if he'd eaten the cafeteria food or if his wife had packed him a lunch.

"I substituted for the PE teacher - played kickball. There were a couple of cuts and scrapes on the playground."

Kickball? That's not what I remember my principal doing. Chopp explained that the job of a principal is "to do whatever is needed, so if a teacher is sick, the principal has to fill in." Today was Chopp's lucky break! Kickball was his favorite school sport. No teaching Einstein's theory today!

After a hard morning of running around, Chopp excused himself saying that he had to run an errand and snuck down to the corner Starbucks for a pick-me-up iced lowfat mocha latte. Being a principal takes lots of energy. Chopp said he was most impressed that Principal McCloskey knows all the kid's names. When he was helping with bus duty early that morning, he said all the kids would come up to her and ask questions. "That's a really good sign. They're not stuck in the office."

"How was lunch?" I asked with a sly grin, remembering the nameless, tasteless mounds of mush from my childhood.

"Great!" he said, "I had rice with teriyaki beef," adding that it was a hard decision to pass up the turkey and mashed potatoes. "Back when I was a kid, we just had macaroni and cheese."

Ironically, Chopp's mother worked as a cafeteria food worker in Bremerton. Chopp said he had always enjoyed the food.

Chopp comes from a family of school employees. All three of his siblings, two sisters and a brother have all worked as teachers in the school system. His sister, Joanne Wilson, taught language arts at B.F.Day for twenty years where she met her husband, Earl who taught science. "They both worked here and fell in love here," says Chopp. Chopp, who lives in Wallingford, has a daughter who is also a student at B.F.Day.

Chopp says he's the black sheep of the family having gone into politics instead of education. He also serves as the President for the Fremont Public Association, a county wide non-profit group which serves as the umbrella organization for several social programs. Chopp believes in the theory that hard work leads to success, but understands that life sometimes hands you lemons.

Chopp's own father dropped out of school after the 6th grade at age twelve to work in the coal mines near Roslyn. After getting married to Chopp's mother, they moved to Bremerton where he went back to school to become a shipyard engineer. Chopp's mother also dropped out in high school. After retiring from cafeteria work, she went back to school at age 65 and earned a degree from the Green River Community College.

"Doing this for a day makes you really appreciate what a principal does," said Chopp, who added that he wants to take his knowledge back to the House of Representatives in the fall and lobby for more teacher funding.