COEUR d'ALENE - Daniel DeBoer was curious about Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem's work schedule and how it affects her personal life.

"Do you celebrate any holidays?" the 8-year-old asked Friday morning when Bloem visited with third-grade students at Ramsey Magnet School.

Bloem quipped that she celebrates everything she possibly can.

It was one of many questions the mayor fielded from about 70 children, all 8- and 9-year-olds in three third-grade classes who have been engaged in creating and developing mock communities as part of their social studies curriculum.

The young inquirers wanted to know "how many papers" Bloem has to work on and how hard her job is.

Bloem said her job is often fun, like when she gets to visit students in schools.

"Sometimes, it's not fun. People don't all agree. That's the other thing about a community," she said.

The children gasped when they heard the mayor has to be available to do her job around the clock every day. Bloem explained that her position is considered part-time, but if something serious happens at any time, even in the middle of the night, she must go to work.

She told the kids she works as mayor about 30 hours per week, reads or works on 200 to 300 different kinds of "papers" and attends roughly 60 meetings per month.

A child asked Bloem if she gets into arguments a lot.

"I do get into debates," the mayor said. "How many of you have heard of McEuen Park?"

A few kids raised their hands. Many people have different ideas about how the park should look, Bloem explained.

"That's a debate. I always hope it's not an argument because sometimes people get angry when they argue," she said.

One child asked Bloem if she has any friends or family working for the city. The mayor smiled at the reference to recent news stories regarding the city's nepotism policy.

"I have friends and family working in my private business only, not for the city," Bloem replied.

The kids asked the mayor if she rides in a limo, has bodyguards and if she's met the President of the United States.

"I've ridden in a limo, but not for the city. I drive myself. I have no guards. I buy my own groceries," Bloem said.

Before the question-and-answer session, Bloem gave the kids a quick civics lesson. She spoke about the city's government structure, its job of providing services like wastewater treatment and public safety, and how the city's budget is funded by taxes to pay for those services.

In their own classrooms, the students have had mock mayoral and city council elections with campaigning and speeches. The elected "city officials" are now working with "citizens" to develop their mock communities. Two of the classrooms are developing suburban communities similar to Coeur d'Alene. The third has gone with a light agricultural environment, with farms like Dalton Gardens.

"They are learning how communities make decisions," said teacher Erica Duncan.

The mock community's governing body interviewed students to place on mock planning and zoning committees. The committees are reviewing citizens' proposals to build gas stations, grocery stores, schools, libraries and more.

"A child submitted a proposal to the council just yesterday," Duncan said.

The boy built his mock home across the lake from the location of the community's businesses and services, and realized he now has to drive all the way around the lake whenever he needs something. "He's proposing they build a bridge," Duncan said.

Bloem said she visits with school children regularly to talk about her job and the city's processes and procedures. She swears in mock elected officials each year at Borah Elementary.

Visiting with students gives her a chance, she said, to show them that the mayor is a real person.

Bloem chuckled and recalled the time a young student once asked her if she "slept with the President every night, or only sometimes."

"I love doing this, because it puts me back in the classroom," Bloem said.

In her tenth year as mayor, Bloem has owned and operated a downtown jewelry business for more than 20 years. Prior to that, she taught for 10 years in Coeur d'Alene schools, leaving teaching when her family needed her to help lead the family's downtown hardware business.

Bloem told the Ramsey students she was teaching sixth-grade at their school when it opened in 1976.