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Witnesses to history
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE © St. Petersburg Times, published February 8, 2001 LECANTO -- The Lecanto High School students stood under gray skies in the cold, drizzling rain while watching the swearing-in of the 43rd President of the United States. They had a pretty good spot, considering the enormous size of the crowd, between the Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art. They were far from the new president, but close to a big monitor, so they watched history unfold on the big screen. The 14 students went to Washington, D.C., Jan. 19-22 with their history teacher William Hartley and his wife, Deanna Hartley. When he takes students to the capital, Hartley said, "So many of them make connections" with what they learned in class. "Things like that make it really neat. It is really something. "The kids that go have a spirit of adventure that hasn't been sucked out. When you get kids that adventurous and that curious, you've got to love that. I love showing the kids around Washington. It's vintage Mr. Smith goes to Washington." Michael Gordon, 18, is a senior and had Hartley for history when he was a junior. This was his first trip to Washington, D.C., and he said he was impressed with "how they stuck so much stuff in one small area. It's amazing and people drive by it every day. "I like the Korean and Vietnam memorials. They touched on a more personal level. They weren't grandiose. They were down to earth. They were more human." Gordon was also impressed by the inauguration ceremony. "I was very happy," he said. "I think it went over well. I think President Bush carried himself in a very presidential manner." Although Gordon is 18, he didn't get to vote, because he missed being of age by two months, he said. He plans to go to Central Florida Community College. Then he hopes to transfer to New York University and study history and law. He hopes some day to be a senator. Stephanie Garry, 15, is a sophomore who had a different perspective of the inauguration than Gordon. She said she was impressed by the protesters. "I really enjoyed seeing the protesters," she said. "The way I compromised Bush winning the election is by telling myself that it didn't matter who became president, but rather that I can express my opinion about it." She thought the inauguration went well, but said, "I wasn't as pleased as I would like to have been because Bush didn't make any major mistakes." Stephanie had been to Washington, D.C. before this trip, but she was in third grade and didn't remember much about it. "What made the biggest impression on me," she said, "was seeing the way government functions. I read about politics a lot and it was always an abstract concept of how things actually happen. It really made it real to see how it happens in government." Stephanie plans to attend college and says she would like to study in the Washington, D.C. area, "because I'm very interested in politics and journalism and because, obviously, Washington is a hot spot for politicians and journalism." She says she would like to be a college professor of journalism or political science. While the students were in the nation's capital, stops included Arlington National Cemetery, the Capitol building, the Vietnam and Korean memorials, the Newseum, and Mount Vernon. An unexpected surprise occurred Saturday night when 2 inches of snow fell on the city. Some of Hartley's students had never seen the soft, white stuff and in the morning they went outside and played.
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