..since President Obama was sworn into office.  It’s something that my children will remember forever.  While both of them were around for Bush coming into office, they weren’t old enough to remember it.  But this election and this inaguration was something.  Matthew was up and had the TV on before I was even out of bed.  He was interested in what they had to say and what was going on.  having visited DC on many occassions he would watch the coverage and point out locations that he remembered or had visited.  He didn’t want to go to school because he wanted to stay home and watch the inaguration.

My oldest, having just turned 12, wanted to watch the inaguration almost as badly as he wanted to stay up and watch the election.  He was understanding somewhat, he was old enough to get it, and he knew that this was history in the making.

I won’t lie, I didn’t vote for Obama.  My children both held mock elections in school and neither of them said they would’ve voted for Obama and my daughter came home and announced that she was not happy that her teacher made her clap for the new President.  I took the time to explain to her that it didn’t matter if we agreed with him or not, that he was now our President, and we were to support him.  And I believe that with all my heart.  I don’t have to like someone, but I do have to respect them.

With a little more explaining, she understood, and her tune changed, but at 9, I was impressed that hse was getting any of this at all.  While not quite as excited as my 12 year old she definately knew that this was history, and she was a part of it.

Over dinner we discussed the DC24, a group of 5th and 6th grade students from Frazier Preparatory Academy in inner-city Chicago who were chosen by a committee of faculty and staff to attend Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration and witness American history as it unfolds. The students were chosen for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity based on a series of criteria, including a written essay, grades, test scores, an oral interview, but most importantly, citizenship. Once selected, the students participated in a weekly civics course where they learned more about the Constitution, our election process and African-American history.

During their four-day journey to Washington, D.C., the students visited landmarks such as the Capitol Building and the Smithsonian and attend the inauguration and an inaugural ball. Upon their return to Chicago, the DC 24 will publish a newspaper describing their experience and deliver a presentation about their trip to parents, faculty and peers.

A major goal of the McCormick Foundation as well as the DC 24’s principal and their teachers, is to inspire and enable a lifetime of giving back to community and country.  We’ve been following them online.  It seems like such an awesome experience for all of them, and proof that not everything “inner-city” is bad.  But Matthew also reminded me that we took for granted our ability to just hop in the car and go.  We’ve been to DC numerous times, we love to go there, we’ve seen the nation’s capital while most of these kids probably haven’t ventured outside of Chicago.

The DC24 are inspirational and it’s a journey that you’re going to want to be a part of.

Take some time and go over and see what they’ve been up to.

And while we’re on the subject, how did you share the inaguration with your kids?  YOu can submit it on the DC24s website as well!

Until next time…

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