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GSHS students to see Obama’s inauguration

John ColsonGlenwood Springs Post Independent Staff

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – A half dozen Glenwood Springs High School students leave today for a trip they could only take once every four years – to see the inauguration of a president of the United States.The students – five boys and one girl, all of them sophomores or juniors – will travel with teacher Mike Schneiter, who teaches Fundamentals of American Democracy. He also teaches Global Issues and Philosophy & Ethics.”It really works into what I’m teaching in FAD, and will be a fun, hands-on learning experience about the many things I teach in that class in regards to government and the history of our government,” Schneiter wrote in an email to the Post Independent.This particular inauguration, of course, is more unique than most, as it is only the second time ever that a black man – President Barack Obama – has been elected to the highest office of the land. It takes place at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on Monday, Jan. 21, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.The trip was arranged through WorldStrides, a Virginia-based organization that hosts educational trips for students and eliminates the need for chaperones other than Schneiter himself.”They have a pretty organized deal,” Schneiter said of WorldStrides.He said the organization arranged for rooms at a hotel in Dulles, Va., near Dulles Airport, as well as daily commutes into Washington, D.C., which will consume about an hour in each direction.The group leaves today, driving to Denver and flying to Dulles, and returns to Glenwood Springs on Tuesday, Jan. 22, Schneiter said. The trip cost is nearly $2,000 per student, he said.Their itinerary for Saturday and Sunday, he wrote, will be filled with sightseeing around the capital, “a lot of the standard stuff like Arlington National Cemetery, the Capitol Building, the White House, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, and a whole host of memorials and statues.”Professional guides from WorldStrides will be in charge of these tours, Schneiter wrote. “There is a lot of history and information provided at all of our stops.”He said there is little chance the group will actually get anywhere close to the president, though he and the students will get to choose whether they see the oath of office and inaugural address, or the inauguration parade.With an expected crowd of 800,000, he said, it is likely the group will pick one spot and stay there for the duration.”It should be neat to be surrounded by all the energy and importance of the moment,” Schneiter noted.Plus, he said, there is a large inaugural dance for the high schoolers on Saturday night.jcolson@postindependent.com


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