HANOVER, Md. — It was an early morning call for students from a government class at Solvay High School. Check out of their hotel and then head back to Washington one last time for a tour on Capitol Hill and a close up look at the White House. It’s just what their government teacher, Shawn Mitchell, had in mind.
It was an early “Firsthand experience. Those pieces that they read about all the time in school and in social studies and do a lot of work on. And to get some lasting memories,” Mitchell said.
And timing was everything. Sensing the deep interest in the 2008 presidential race, Mitchell scheduled the trip to visit the capital at inauguration time. A visit that stirred both memories and hope as a new President takes the helm.
“I think there’s a lot to look forward to and I’m really lucky to have had the chance to come down,” said student Phillip Leach.
“Me being able to go home and just talking about it and telling all my friends how it was a great experience, just is amazing,” said student Amanda Mitchell.
And what stories they can tell. Being part of the largest crowd ever to gather in Washington. The Solvay group was somewhere in the section near the Washington Monument, surrounded by as many as two million people. They walked for hours. Spent hours in the shattering cold. And never got closer than a mile to the actual swearing in. Yet, the students from Solvay say they would not trade this experience for anything.
“It would have been a lot more comfortable back home, but I just think it was just the feeling, just the energy from the crowd was just unbelievable,” Leach said. “Because at the end of the day, we got to come back here and, you know, we got to be a part of history.”
History that could have a profound effect on their future.
Tour operators say the Solvay group was far from alone. A record number of school groups scheduled tours in the capital to coincide with the Obama swearing in.
