Students to attend presidential inauguration

7 years ago
HODGDON, Maine — Hodgdon High School students will once again be making the trip to Washington, D.C. to witness the presidential inauguration.

Eleven Hodgdon High School students, along with their teacher Brian Fitzpatrick and his wife Gretchen, will be flying to the U.S. capital on Wednesday and will return home Saturday afternoon.

The trip is the culmination of the first semester of studying the 2016 presidential election as well as political parties, voting procedures and a host of other topics in class, Fitzpatrick said.

“Undoubtedly, we will see a fair number of protests along with all the other attractions,” Brian Fitzpatrick said. “The group is tremendously
grateful to all the support they have received in making this trip possible.”

On arrival in Washington D.C. Thursday, the group will check into their Arlington, Va. hotel and then have dinner at Union Station followed by a three-hour twilight tour of the nation’s capital.

The group will be able to get out at each historic site to take photos. On Thursday morning, the Hodgdon students will ride the subway to the National Zoo and will also visit Senator Angus King’s office, where they will pick up their inauguration tickets. They will be briefed by Sen. King’s staff on all the precautions — such as security requirements and other expectations of the those attending President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.

The class will visit the Newseum, which is an interactive museum that promotes free expression and the _five freedoms of the First Amendment, while tracing the evolution of print and electronic communication in American history.

The day will also feature a trip to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

Friday will be the Inauguration ceremony where they students will witness the oath of office, Inaugural Address by President Trump and then off to the Inaugural Parade. The group will fly back home Saturday.