Today my class watched part of the Presidential Inauguration. Our Principal graciously allowed us to witness this historic event. Before the Inauguration, we spent some time talking about Martin Luther King. I thought that it was important that they understand why this was such a historic event. Since MLK isn't really taught until 2nd grade, most didn't have a good idea of who he was or what he worked for. The kids couldn't believe that not so long ago (ok, I thought it was not so long ago, they thought 40 years was an eternity) African Americans couldn't even swim in the same pool or drink from the same drinking fountain as white people. This was such a foreign concept to them - they wondered why African Americans didn't drive cars instead of taking the bus, and why they didn't build their own restaurants that said "Blacks Only." We spent a long time talking about how MLK would feel about an African American being elected as President and how many Americans never thought they would see this day.
The best part of the conversation was when I told them that this was one of those events that people will remember forever. For the rest of their lives, they will remember where they were when they saw the first black President take the oath of office. One of them said, "We'll remember that we were in Mrs. Zahrte's First Grade class!" We witnessed history together and none of us will forget it - that is cool!
For anyone who has worked with 6 and 7 year olds, you know that they have an attention span of about 20 min. Consequently, the 30 min. of Inauguration that we watched was a little much for them. They were most amazed at the number of people that were gathered on the mall in D.C., and how CRAZY everyone went when President Obama walked out on stage. They were not overly impressed with Aretha Franklin - they thought the bow on her hat was too big. The funniest thing happened during the opening prayer. Pastor Rick Warren was a little wordy for most of the little, not-in-church people, and they started getting squirrely. I made the mistake of talking during the prayer and one of them said, "Hey, I'm praying!" Oh sorry! Please continue...
Regardless of any one's political views or who they voted for, today was a historical day for our country. I was thrilled to have witnessed it with 20 future leaders!
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