Nearly 1200 Schools across the City Show the Swearing-in Ceremony Live for Students
DOE Creates New Social Studies Resource Bank about the Inauguration
New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today commemorated President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony with students at Brooklyn’s PS 205, where the Chancellor attended elementary school as a child. PS 205 was one of nearly 1200 schools that showed the inauguration of the 44th president live for students. Many schools also organized field trips to Washington, D.C., giving students the opportunity to be in the nation’s capitol for the ceremony. Last month, Chancellor Klein encouraged principals to celebrate the milestone in their schools, and many planned lessons and special activities related to this historic moment. The Department of Education’s Office of Teaching and Learning created an instructional resource bank for teachers to use in their classrooms that included a schedule of Inauguration Day events as well as activities for elementary, middle, and high school students across content areas.
“I am really pleased that so many of our schools celebrated this milestone in our nation’s social and political history,” Chancellor Klein said. “No matter how you voted in November, the election showed our students that no dream is out of reach—background, race, gender, and age are no longer roadblocks to our students aiming for and achieving any goal. Inauguration Day is an invaluable demonstration of this new reality.”
“Barack Obama’s election as our 44th president, and as the first African-American president of the United States, represents so much more than history to my generation and our parents’ generation who, like me, could never have imagined as a young, black student in New York City, the reality of this historic election,” Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis M. Walcott said. “President Obama’s election represents the beginning of new chapters to be written for many future generations, and inspires countless dreams and aspirations, particularly in our students who understand that there are no limits to their futures.”
The Department of Education partnered with ABC News to provide schools with a live Internet video stream of the inauguration. This arrangement gave New York City public schools access to a real-time feed of inaugural events. In addition to watching the ceremony, principals and teachers across the City organized activities and lessons to help students explore what this historic day meant for their future and for the future of their country.
- Students at PS 43 in the Bronx attended their own Inaugural Ball.
- Students at PS 208 in Manhattan wore special Barack Obama T-shirts to school and wrote and recited their own inaugural speeches.
- Students at IS 49 in Staten Island watched the inauguration on SMART Boards in their classrooms.
- Students at PS/IS 323 in Brooklyn recited speeches and poems and discussed what it means to have the first African-American president.
- Students at Townsend Harris High School in Queens had been studying past Presidents’ inaugurations in preparation for Tuesday.
More than a dozen schools organized field trips or have students going to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration. Many students have also written letters to the President.