It was a cold and rainy day in Washington, D.C. Jan.20, but that didn’t stop 14 students, two teachers and one parent from Golden Valley High School from witnessing a part of history at the nation’s capital.
The students and teachers watched from the National Mall as Donald J. Trump took his oath of office to become the 45th President of the United States.
“You talk about elections all the time and the peaceful transition of power, being that this has happened 58 different times,” said Robert Fisher, a Golden Valley U.S. history teacher and the chair of the social studies department. “It was awesome to be there and witness history.”
Fisher said the discussions and planning for the trip began last year when WorldStrides, a company that organizes student travel, contacted him to attend the inauguration.
“We opened it up to our sophomores and juniors last year,” he said.
In total, 47 students from four schools, including Golden Valley, attended the event together.
The wake-up call for the day’s actives began at 5 a.m. before the group took a 5:30 a.m. bus and walked four-and-a-half miles to their viewing spot located next to the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall.
“The city was very high security and there were a lot of restricted areas and a lot of road closures,” Fisher said. “We were in the general admission area so there are jumbotrons back there in the National Mall and we were not quite halfway.”
Fisher said the students were excited to witness the oath of office, see President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama for the last time and watch Marine One take off.
“A lot of them were excited to see it, to be there to witness it,” Fisher said. “We’ve had some good dialogues and mixed reactions over whether they agreed on the results of the election.”
The students and teachers are also looking forward to seeing the sights of Washington, D.C. and reflecting on the history they were a part of Friday.
“It was all well-received and they were tuned in and listened to what was said,” Fisher said.
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