A firsthand look at the inauguration
Groups of Lowcountry students expected to be among participants
Lowcountry students will be among the millions who gather next week to witness the inauguration of the country's first African-American president.
Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier
Fort Dorchester High School seniors Tytianna Powell and Lakeceara Murray look over a special commemorative edition of 'President Obama, The Path to the White House' put out by Time magazine before a meeting of 40 students and their parents on Tuesday. The students will leave Monday for Washington to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama.
Students understand the historical significance of the event, and they've hosted gospel concerts, baked cookies and sold candy to raise enough money to be able to make the trip.
"In the future, I would like to be able to say that I was able to experience the inauguration," said Asa Blake, a sixth-grader at Haut Gap Middle School. "(President-elect Barack Obama) is like a role model for young kids. I think (being there) will boost our self-confidence that we can do anything."
Fifty students from Haut Gap on Johns Island, three student council members from North Charleston Elementary and the Summerville High School chorus will travel to the nation's capital.
Forty students in Fort Dorchester High School's African American
Heritage Club have raised about $7,000 to make the trip, but they're still several thousand dollars short.
Other students will mingle with their peers from across the country during conferences. Haut Gap Middle School seventh-grader Eric Mack Jr. was invited to attend the inauguration through the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Charleston Collegiate School seventh-grader Joshua Leutz will be part of a delegation of students attending the Presidential Youth Leadership Conference sponsored by LeadAmerica.
To help
Those interested in making a donation to Fort Dorchester High School's African American Heritage Club can make a deposit to the club's account (No. 1801113644) at a local First Federal branch.
Yvette Miller, a teacher at Haut Gap Middle School, has taken students to the past four presidential inaugurations, and she said students would've made the trip regardless of who was elected. Her goal is to give the islands' students new experiences, and their trip includes visits to universities and historic monuments, in addition to the inauguration activities.
Miller started planning at the beginning of the school year, and she coordinated fundraising activities for those whose parents couldn't afford the $575 per student cost.
In Dorchester District 2, Hester McFadden, who teaches African-American studies classes at Fort Dorchester High and serves as the African American Heritage Club's mentor, said club members began talking about the trip shortly after Obama won, but their fundraising didn't begin in earnest until the Christmas break because district officials initially rejected the idea.
Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com. Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@
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Comments
This article has 9 comment(s)
Posted by NativeSon on January 14, 2009 at 9:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All people, not just those attending the inaugration, should wear black arm bands representing the death and burial of the great United States of America and also wear the flag of communism on their other shoulder to symbolize the new world order being ushered in by the stench which is the democrap party.
Posted by islandbenzbc on January 14, 2009 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All praise the Obamessiah...
Posted by coolfreaknbeans on January 14, 2009 at 10:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll probably spend inauguration day with tears in my eyes and vomit in my toilet. I can't believe how many people fell for this idiots load of horse crap he spewed. How hilarious is it that they used focus groups to come up with an effective buzz word? And it actually won him the election! They asked so many people, " Why did you vote for O'Bama?" The generic constant answer...."Change". Well thats prolific. Do people not get that not all "change" is good?
Posted by iceman1978 on January 14, 2009 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
blue_eyes, I think you're right. I had originally wanted Hillary in the primaries, but at least Bush will be leaving soon. He has done incalculable damage to this country, and even to his own party.
Posted by watney on January 14, 2009 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ahh the MESSIAH cometh. I have not paid any of my bills for this month-- I hear they will all be paid for me. I am so glad I don't have to worry about ANYTHING come 01-20-09. CHANGE. It can be dangerous to elect officials on race alone. What political triumph has Obama ever been involved with other than Freddie and Fannie (Personal Profits $$$) and talking enough *^#$ to be elected president of this great nation. As an American-- I have no choice but to try and be positive and support his regime until they let me and all of us down.
Posted by UrGatorbait on January 14, 2009 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Politicians in general have done immeasurable amounts of damage to this great nation. They sell their soul for one thing and buy something else with it, all the time taking us down the path with them dragging and screaming but doing little else to change.
Many here probably don't like Ob because he is...shhh..black...they say other wise but aren't man enough to say it.
Those same folks would rather have that nitwit Palin and McSame in office. Ob and McC are the same, anyone who dreams otherwise IMO isn't paying much attention and just being a foolish partisan hack. We are all being sold a bad bill of goods and knee jerk to the default pointing fingers response of your "Your Guy________!! that is accepted as discourse and is seen as doing something about problems in this country.
The other sad responses of "This country is going down the tubes or worse" is a part of the problem that solves nothing except create animosity. We have no one to blame but ourselves and puking on your keyboard will only make your fingers stinky
Posted by coolfreaknbeans on January 14, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I personally could care less if O'Bama was booger green. I hope he does well- afterall he will be our president. Only a fool would truly wish him to destroy our country. I'm starting to think some liberals may soon notice O'Bama was full of BS. Can someone tell me how it's "change" when he's appointing a bunch of Clintonites?
Posted by Funky_Winkerbean on January 14, 2009 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How about a bake sale or a work on a car wash to help the poor and unemployed. Really no one will care about a band from SC except SC.... It'll just be a memory in 2 weeks anyway. All this waste of money for a presidential election I don't care who it is bugs me. America is full of waste. That's the reason we are in the condition we are today....
Funky_ Winkerbean
Posted by Funky_Winkerbean on January 14, 2009 at 6:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
$45,000,000.00 cost to Inauguration Committee and $50,000,000.00 for the City of Washington itself...
What recession!
Funky_Winkerbean