Second time teacher has taken students to historic event
COLORADO SPRING, COLO. -- Barack Obama's inauguration has become one of the most anticipated events in recent memory, and a group of Southern Colorado students will be there.
Eleven students from Peyton High School will go to Washington D.C. for the event. They are still trying to get tickets from Colorado's congressional delegation, but if they can't, they will be at the National Mall and on the parade route. The students did fundraising to pay for the trip, which costs about $2,500 dollars each.
Terry Harfert is a civics and government teacher, and a political junkie. He is sharing his passion with his students, spending the past two years arranging a trip to the 2009 Inauguration.
"For over 200 years our government has made a peaceful transition of power and we get to experience that," he said.
It isn't the first time. Harfert took students to the first inauguration of President George W. Bush. He says there were about one million people on the mall.
"They are expecting four million people on the mall area, so it is going to be different, especially for a group of rural students to be in that atmosphere," he said.
Most of them aren't even old enough to vote, but paid attention to the presidential election anyway.
"I followed it pretty much all the way through," said junior Katie Mitchell.
"I just wanted to see who the next President of the United States might be, just get to know what they had in mind for the country," said sophomore Jessica Clary.
Harfert says it is that involvement that makes these students great candidates for the trip. "It doesn't matter their grades, it is the way they conduct themselves that makes them excellent citizens," he said.
He hopes that just like the last time, the experience will be something students will never forget.
"It is the first black president, so it is going to be really memorable," said Clary.
"It is an honor to go. It will be history in the making," said sophomore Kyle Lord.
The trip will last from January 18 to 24. Aside from the inauguration, students will also see Washington D.C. landmarks, like the Lincoln Memorial.
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