Philly Students Going To Washington

To them, inauguration's 'our Woodstock'
By MENSAH M. DEANPhiladelphia Daily News
deanm@phillynews.com

THEIR SCHOOL is steeped in history, having existed since the late 1830s, making it one of the oldest public high schools in the country.
Next Tuesday they'll bear witness to the next chapter in American history when they leave the halls of Central High School to be among the millions who'll flock to the nation's capital.
The inauguration of Barack Obama promises to be the ultimate field trip for the 26 Central High seniors who made the grade to be selected.
"Every generation has their defining moment," said Emily Dawn Clauna, 17, who lives in the Northeast. "The baby boom generation, especially, had a lot of defining moments.
"I wanted to go to the inauguration because it's one of those moments that I could look back on and say, 'I was alive at that time and I went.' "
"This is something that you can tell your grandchildren about when you're older," said Julie Touchstone, 17, of Roxborough. "This is a big deal, and it's an honor to go."
"It's our Woodstock," said Barron Johnston, 17, of West Philadelphia. "This could be the most defining moment I'll get to see in my life."
Though the School District of Philadelphia will be open as usual next Tuesday, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has said that students will be taught from a special Inaugural Day curriculum and will watch the festivities on classroom televisions.
While the Central High students will be so much closer and could actually become part of the blanket television coverage, they are traveling to D.C. with a dose of reality.
"I don't expect to walk up and shake hands with Obama - not by any stretch of the imagination," said Asha Davis, 17, of Germantown. "But I'd like to feed off of other people's energy."
"Even if I don't get to touch him or see him, just being there will be so exciting, and seeing him from a distance will be good enough for me," said Charlotte Singleton, 17, of Nicetown, who was able to give Obama a hug during a campaign rally.
Next Tuesday, at 4 a.m., the students, three social-science teachers and two vice principals will leave the Olney school by charter bus. Once in the D.C. area, they will take the Metro subway system to the Capitol grounds.
Following the noontime swearing-in ceremony and Obama's first presidential speech, the Central High group will have lunch before attending the inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue.
The students and adults will then head to their suburban Maryland hotel to get ready to attend one of the 10 official inaugural balls.
The next morning, the students will receive a commendation from U.S. Rep. Robert Brady, tour the Capitol and visit the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Supreme Court building before heading home.
"This is an amazing opportunity to possibly meet some influential people in our government," said Sam Winestock, 17, of Center City.
"And while I may have not been a Barack Obama supporter, I have faith in this country and I love this country, and I think that if he's the new president then this is the direction that we're going and I think that it should turn out well."
Central High social-science teachers Michael Horwits, Stan Levy and Bill Graham selected the students based on the scores they earned on the National Civic Literacy Quiz, on their class grades, and on written essays and interviews.
Each student has to pay $100, but much of the estimated $10,000 expense associated with the trip is being covered with funds from the $100,000 AARP Ethel Percy Award the social-science department won in May based on three years of outstanding civic-engagement instruction.
"You can teach theory all day, but it's when you give kids an opportunity that most people don't have that it keeps them interested," Horwits said.
The students seem to agree. They've had two after-school planning meetings and will have one more before the trip.
After witnessing Obama ascend to the presidency, the students said they will keep an eye on how he performs, including how well he keeps his campaign promises.
"What I'm expecting from Obama is definitely not a huge change right at the start," said David Nungesser, 18, of the Northeast. "I'm expecting really, really slow legislation that gets passed through Congress that puts America on the right track."
"I'm hoping that Obama will change the way that the world perceives America, and the way that American perceives itself," Johnston offered.
"I'm just glad we're going because it's an experience of a lifetime," said Lauren Applegate, 17, of the Northeast.
"You hear your grandparents sitting around talking about so much they've gone through, like the Watergate scandal. My grandmom has a big scrap book of John F. Kennedy and how he died."
The Inauguration, Applegate said, "is something that I would like to look back on and be able to tell that story." *