Letters to First Family included
Students at Syracuse's H W Smith School, K to 8th Grade, spent a long lunch hour watching Barack Obama's swearing in and inaugural speech on Tuesday. They did it, as a group, in the school auditorium, specially wired up with a movie-sized screen by the vice-principal.
'It makes it a family event,' says Principal Sharon Birnkrant, who says the new president wants schools to be more family-oriented.
Students like 8th grader, Adam Luban, came in an Obama t-shirt---he says it's important he'll 'always be able to remember.'
Birnkrant had other ways to memorialize the day: each student got a sheet to fill out, with the top reading:
"My name is___.
I am __ years old.
Today is January 20, 2009.
Barack Obama is being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.
As I watch the event, I ----"
The rest of the page is to be filled in, as a memento.
"We're all gonna want to say 'yeah, this is how I felt.'" says Birnkrant, who wishes she'd done the same when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated.
Students we talked to said they want to remember the importance of the day.
8th grader, Andrea McHenry, said she would have something to look back at. 8th grader, Shonnan Usman, says the day proves that anyone can follow dreams--Barack Obama is a prime example of that. 7th grader, Ta'carra Newton, says it means a lot to have the memory to share with future children and grandchildren.
The students at HW Smith have also written letters--to the first daughters. Birnkrant says everyone's giving advice to the new President, but the students can relate better to Malia and Sasha, who are their own ages. Among the advice: 3rd grader, Jeffery Dowdell, says be good in school and don't talk back to your parents.
8th grader, Courtney Chavez, says act appropriately, since your father's the president. 3rd grader, Alexandria Williams, says the girls have to neaten their lives.
Birnkrant says one letter even warns the first puppy to not to chew up the White House furniture.
All the letters now go to Syracuse Congressman Dan Maffei, to deliver to the First Daughters.
