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Charlie Steinman, 10, a fifth-grader at Chevy Chase Elementary School has a lot of the world's problems on his mind.

He's concerned about the political situation in the Middle East, the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, the financial problems in this county and he's even concerned about the quality of his handwriting.

So he wrote down his concerns and put them in a letter to President-elect Barack H. Obama.

Classmate Willie Bediako, 10, wrote a letter too, but he limited his thoughts to economic issues.

"I just wrote some stuff so he could get more money for the country and for other countries," Willie said.

Charlie, Willie and their classmates took part in "Mail to the Chief," a letter-writing project sponsored by Handwriting Without Tears, a Glen Echo-based company that provides handwriting curricula to schools across the country.

"The children's voices are important, too," said Jan Olsen, founder of the company.

The students had some useful suggestions to pass along to the incoming president. Their letters reflected their concerns and a sophisticated knowledge of current events.

"They are very aware of what's going on around them," Principal Jody Smith said.

Nate Fellner, 11, included three main points in his letter stop the Iraq War, be a good listener and be responsible.

"Because he's running the United States of America he has to look at the big picture," Nate said.

His comment spurred the students to talk about what the big picture included.

They said the new president has to work on the environment, energy, the economy, foreign aid, global warming and terrorism.

Leo Scheck, 11, covered two of those topics in his letter.

"I mainly wrote about how he has to help the environment and the economy," Leo said.

He suggested Obama "build government-sponsored plants for electric cars and to use renewable resources like wind."

Delia Friel's letter covered both sides of two pages. The 10-year-old said she was writing to help make Obama an even better president. She suggested Obama "be generous and friendly, have confidence when making decisions and to be yourself."

As the students shared their letters they discussed the issues, something they did all through the letter-writing process, according to teacher Diane Kolata.

"It was really neat because normally their writing time is really quiet, but with this they discussed their ideas," she said.

"It's fun to see what other people say," Leighton Moore, 10, said.

Aisha Mughal, 10, wrote a reminder to the president, one many voters wish politicians would keep in mind.

"I told him when the election was still going on you promised a lot of things and you have to keep those promises," she said.

In spite of the many problems the students know the president has to deal with, some said they would like to become president someday.

"Being president would be a lot of work," Leighton said. But she thought the work would be worth it, "It would be a great feeling to be running 50 states."

Handwriting Without Tears received almost 40,000 letters from students in each of the 50 states and three foreign countries. Chevy Chase Elementary School was among 19 Montgomery County schools contributing letters. The letters will be delivered Jan. 23, National Handwriting Day.

"We have been working with the transition team," Olsen said. "I don't know who will receive them but I know they will be accepted."

Delia was confident Obama would take advantage of the ideas expressed by the students.

"I hope that Obama will actually listen to kids because we are the future of America," Nate said.