Boston schools prepare for Inauguration of President Barack Obama

Here in Boston and in the nation’s capital, students from many Boston Public Schools will mark the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the United States.  The following are some of the activities that schools are conducting to help students celebrate and learn.  For more information about any of these events, please contact the Communications Office: communications@bostonpublicschools.org, 617-635-9265.

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Students in the BELL after-school program at the Mather Elementary School in Dorchester will present letters they have written to President-elect Obama to John Walsh, Chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, in a special ceremony at the school.

Thursday, January 15, 4:00 p.m.
1 Parish St., Dorchester

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Moah Pollas, a fifth grade student at the Young Achievers School of Math & Science in Jamaica Plain, will attend the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference (JrPYIC) next week in Washington, D.C. JrPYIC is a conference open to alumni of the National Young Scholars Program (NYSP), during which scholars will explore an enriching curriculum, experience all that Washington, D.C. has to offer and witness this historic Presidential Inauguration first hand.

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Forty-four students and 11 adults from the John W. McCormack Middle School in Dorchester will attend the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. Students were selected based on writing a 300 word essay, and achievement in the school’s “A.A.C.E.” priorities – attendance, attitude, conduct, and effort.

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Twenty-five 8th grade students from the William Barton Rogers Middle School in Hyde Park will travel to Washington, D.C. for the Inauguration. The entire 8th grade was offered the opportunity to apply for the trip. The application process included an initial interest application, a written essay and an interview. During the two days following the Inauguration, students will have the opportunity to visit several of the Smithsonian Museums as well as several of the monuments in D.C. The students have been active in raising money for the trip.

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Mariah Harrington, a junior at Boston Latin School, has been selected to serve as a student reporter for National Public Radio’s coverage of the Inauguration in Washington, D.C.

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Fenway High School is sending a delegation of 15 students and five teachers to the Inauguration. Students and faculty are leaving by bus on Monday and returning on Wednesday. Students are fundraising to help pay for the trip.

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Schools in the Hyde Park Education Complex have a number of Inauguration activities planned.

Groups of students and teachers from both Social Justice Academy and Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH) will travel to Washington, D.C.  Students have been learning about the electoral process and were selected to participate based on essays and classroom performance.

Upon their return, CASH students will work together to create a series of creative representations of the trip, including poems, essays, and pictorial displays to create the school's Wall of Hope.

On Tuesday, the schools will join The Engineering School for a campus-wide celebration in the main auditorium to witness and celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Obama.

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Two Boston Arts Academy students – one current and one an alumna – will be travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the Inaugural Parade and events. Zakkiyah Sutton (vocal music, class of 2008, and former Student Body President) and Ashwa Marshall (vocal music, class of 2009, and current Student Body President) have been invited to sing at the Greater DC Cares organization’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service event on January 19th. Their trip is sponsored by a generous grant from The Charlotte Foundation.

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Noonan Business Academy in Dorchester will hold a special assembly to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who influenced Barack Obama. Students will recite speeches, and the 9th grade chorus will perform. The school has invited families and community members to join students and staff for the event.

Tuesday, January 20, 10:00 a.m.
Dorchester Education Complex, 9 Peacevale Road, Dorchester

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Jack McCauley’s special needs multi-handicapped class at Charlestown High School has been doing a unit on the Inauguration and will have an inaugural lunch on Tuesday. Students are researching the First Family, painting banners, and holding a vote for the First Family’s dog.  They are having chili for lunch after learning on the internet that Barack Obama loves chili.

Charlestown High School’s Unit B has an entire day of activities planned around the Presidential Inauguration. Students will kick off the day with a presidential trivia contest in homeroom followed by a comparative analysis of the speeches of Barack Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr. Students will then create illustrated posters using “golden lines” from various Obama and MLK speeches, which they will assemble into a banner. After watching the Inaugural Address together, the students will discuss the speech and reflect on the historical significance of Obama’s Inauguration. Students will write a future letter to themselves about what they want to remember from the day. The day will conclude with an assembly featuring an “Inaugural Ball” fashion show, a call to service from the student government, the presentation of academic and citizenship awards, and a reading by some students of their reflections on the day’s events.

Tuesday, January 20, 7:30 a.m. – 1:50 p.m.
240 Medford St., Charlestown

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The junior class at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury is sponsoring a viewing of the Inauguration and fundraiser that is open to the whole school. They will decorate the cafeteria in a red, white and blue theme, will offer photos with an Obama cardboard cutout, and will hold a balloon drop once Obama is sworn in. Following the viewing, the fundraiser will transition into an Inaugural Ball.

Tuesday, January 20
55 Malcolm X Blvd., Roxbury

Additionally, the Madison Park History Club at the last minute secured tickets to the Inauguration, and four lucky Madison Park students will join other BPS students for a trip of a lifetime to Washington D.C. The students and faculty are actively fundraising to support the trip.

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The English High School in Jamaica Plain has planned a day of Inauguration watching and analysis. The students will divide into various groups and watch the Inauguration with certain themes in mind, including The Obama Presidency in the Context of the Civil Rights Legacy, Rhetoric and Public Oration, and Inaugurations Past and Present: Speeches in the Context of Global Events.

Tuesday, January 20, 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
144 McBride Street, Jamaica Plain

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The Thomas Edison Middle School in Brighton will hold an all-school assembly in the auditorium featuring student speakers and a performance by the 8th grade performing arts group that includes dance, percussion and spoken word including excerpts from Obama speeches. Then the students and staff will watch the Inauguration together on the big screen. Before dismissal all students will receive a personalized copy of Yes We Can, Garen Thomas’ young adult biography of Obama with a commemorative bookplate designed for the Inauguration.

Tuesday, January 20
60 Glenmont Road, Brighton

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Students at Excel High School in the South Boston Education Complex will gather to watch the inauguration.  Organized by the history department, students will have refreshments and a series of questions about the inauguration speech and ceremony for to complete.

Tuesday, January 20, 11:30 a.m.
95 G. Street, 2^nd Floor, South Boston

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The entire student body of Monument High School at the South Boston Education Complex will travel to the campus of UMass Boston for a day of Inauguration and college preparation activities. Ninth and tenth grade students will attend presentations on getting ready for college and the Urban Scholars program, while eleventh and twelfth grade students will attend an information session on UMass Boston and take a campus tour. Students will then gather in the Campus Center Ballroom to watch the Inauguration together over lunch.

Tuesday, January 20, 9:35 – 1:45 a.m.
UMass Boston Campus Center

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The Chittick Elementary School in Mattapan is holding an “Inaugural Ball” at which the third, fourth, and fifth graders will perform raps and poems they composed about President Obama.

Tuesday, January 20, 11:30 a.m.
154 Ruskindale Road, Mattapan

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Kindergarten students will wear their party clothes at the Sumner Elementary School for an “Inaugural Ball.” The school’s hallways have been covered with stars – one for each student – on which students have written their hopes and dreams for Obama. Students will gather in the computer lab and gym to watch the Inauguration.

Tuesday, January 20
15 Basile Street, Roslindale

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Tuesday is “Red, White and Blue Day” at the Beethoven Elementary School in West Roxbury. Students and staff will dress in patriotic colors and watch the Inauguration together in the auditorium.

Tuesday, January 20
5125 Washington St., West Roxbury

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Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is working with the Mayor's Office of Cable Communications to enable students to view the Inauguration using the school’s in-house Visual Broadcast System for distribution of the proceedings.

Tuesday, January 20
40 Armington St., Allston

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Roxbury Community College is hosting groups of students from several Boston Public Schools to watch the Presidential Inauguration live on January 20.

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The Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester will hold an “inaugural ball” for students and the community the night of the Inauguration. The event will feature fancy-dress and a cardboard cutout of Obama that guests can have their pictures taken with.

Tuesday, January 20, 6:30 p.m.
270 Columbia Road, Dorchester