Watching history

MOSES LAKE — Eighteen Moses Lake High School students watched President Barack Obama take the presidential oath  at National Mall in Washington, D.C.

“It was definitely worth it,” said senior Samantha Byam, 17. “It was definitely worth getting two hours of sleep a night.”

Students, mostly juniors and seniors, spent four days in our nation’s capitol. Each student came back with a different perspective on the highlights of the trip.

“The inauguration was the greatest bragging point,” noted junior Elliot Dano, 16.

Dano said it was great to see Obama being made president, but it was not favorite part of the trip.

“I would say just being able to talk to other people (was the best part),” said Dano, who added he felt like an ambassador to Washington state.

Several students were interviewed by a local television station, including Rachel Miller, 18.

“We were the people they met that traveled the furthest,” Miller said.

Television viewers watching the ceremony missed the extreme cold the in-person audience endured.

U.S. government and politics teacher Michael Hofheins said if he had a chance to do the trip over again, he would have brought more clothing. Vendors at the National Mall offered hand warmers for sale, and plenty of people purchased them, Hofheins said.

“It was cold — bitter cold,” he said.

Students estimated spending 13 hours at the National Mall.

“We pretty much stayed in the same spot from 7 (a.m.) until 1 (p.m.),” noted junior Dylan Moberg, 16.

Miller said students awoke at 3:30 a.m. the day of the inauguration.

Senior Cari Cortez, 18, said she could see police and military snipers on the building roofs providing security throughout the ceremony.

“There were military personnel everywhere,” he said.

At the same time, the group did not go through any security checkpoints at the National Mall.  Hofheins said he never felt in danger.

Cortez expressed amazement with the atmosphere of so many people standing with complete silence during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, students participated in the Youth Inauguration Ball, dressing up for the event. They took pictures with cardboard cutouts of Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Abraham Lincoln.

“We all got to hug Obama,” said senior Amanda Kimmel, 17.

Other highlights of the trip include meeting Congressman Doc Hastings, R-Fourth Dist., on the steps of the capitol. Hastings represents Grant and Adams counties.

Students asked him about the committees he serves on, war in Iraq, planned stimulus package and the closing of Guantanamo Bay, Hofheins said.

“He visited with the kids for more than a half hour,” Hofheins said.

While waiting for Hastings to arrive, students were treated to a South Carolina woman’s announcement of candidacy for Congress on the capitol steps. The candidate is running in 2010.

“She ‘dissed’ Obama in front of us,” said Miller.

Students visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall, and senior Brittany Bateman, 17, was able to find a name on the wall — Mark A. Bateman, her grandfather’s cousin.

Other stops included the Lincoln Memorial, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Arlington National Cemetery and Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History.

Moberg said he enjoyed seeing the capitol’s monuments in person.

Kimmel noted the Lincoln Memorial actually had a mistake engraved on it.

Miller added that the word “future” originally had a typo that made it say “euture.”

Byam said she enjoyed the independence the trip provided.