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With inauguration moved inside, Scranton High students feel letdown, but lucky to be in D.C.

Scranton High School students visited the Lincoln Memorial.
Submitted photo
Scranton High School students visited the Lincoln Memorial.

A group of Scranton High School students spent the last year anticipating seeing the presidential inauguration in person today.

With the ceremony moved inside and access to the National Mall limited, the students will likely witness history from a screen indoors.

“It’s a little disappointing, but as long as we’re all here together, getting to experience this, it makes it all worth it,” junior Laurelee Ayala said Sunday night.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he would recite the oath inside the Capitol rotunda due to wind chills expected in the teens.

“Obviously, it’s a big letdown, but I think we’re going to make the best out of it,” senior Emma Kearney said. “I’m glad to even be near Washington, D.C., while this is happening.”

This is the fifth time Scranton High teachers Sean Curry and Jerry Skotleski have taken students to a presidential inauguration. For the first time, they had to search for ways their 31 students could still see it. On Sunday night, the teachers were still researching viewing opportunities, including inside Capital One Arena.

Scranton High School students pose for a photo in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
Submitted photo
Scranton High School students pose for a photo in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

The students, who had committed to the trip a year ago, arrived Saturday morning and began seeing the monuments and museums most had only learned about in class.

“It's unreal. I never thought of seeing in person museums and the history that the teachers talk about,” junior Karla Gonzalez said. “It's interesting to learn about and see it in person.”

Along with monuments and memorials along the National Mall, the students visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, International Spy Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The students learned about John Walker, who lived in Scranton as a teen and became a Navy chief warrant officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.

At the African American museum, a pair of shackles that could fit a child made senior Rashel Nolasco feel grateful for her life. At the Holocaust museum, students said the photos and exhibits, including a train car used for transportation to concentration camps and a pile of shoes from those who died, brought tears to their eyes.

While at the museum, senior Zach Jordan received the name and information about someone who died in the Holocaust. At the end, Zach sat in a reflection room and lit a candle after reading the man’s story. He and other students said the museum helped bring greater meaning to statistics from textbooks.

“It really opened my eyes,” Zach said.

Scranton High School teachers Jerry Skotleski and Sean Curry speak to their students during a tour of the monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.
Submitted photo
Scranton High School teachers Jerry Skotleski and Sean Curry speak to their students during a tour of the monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.

Sarah Hofius Hall worked at The Times-Tribune in Scranton since 2006. For nearly all of that time, Hall covered education, visiting the region's classrooms and reporting on issues important to students, teachers, families and taxpayers.

You can email Sarah at sarahhall@wvia.org
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