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 ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan.
20, 2009)
-- Students throughout the City School District of Albany participated in a wide range of activities Jan. 20 to mark
the inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th president and the
nation's first African-American president.
The events included
all-school assemblies, inaugural galas, student presentations and
performances, a mural dedicated to the incoming president's children and
a service project in honor of the presidential puppy. Schools throughout
the district televised the inauguration ceremony live. You can
read more about the district's preparations for Inauguration Day in
the Jan. 19 Times Union. Click here to see the inauguration
day
Photo Gallery.
Giffen students
participate in a Parade of States following
At Albany High School,
teachers
showed the
President Obama's inauguration ceremony.
inauguration live in their classrooms and
discussed the
events with
students.
Students and staff at Harriet Gibbons
High School gathered in two assemblies to watch the inauguration,
and then participated in small-group discussions led by teachers.
At
William S. Hackett Middle School, a school-wide assembly
in the auditorium featured musical performances,
student essays
on
freedom, and presentations by the Student Government and Creative
Writing/Hip-Hop Club. The inauguration
was shown live in the auditorium and cafeteria. Numerous media outlets
also turned out to cover the event at the school, including the
Times Union
(including the newspaper's
online
Photo Gallery -- click on "Region celebrates"), The Associated Press
(Hackett students were included in
national and
state AP stories),
CBS6,
CapitalNews 9,
FOX-23
and radio station WGY.
"The enthusiasm of the kids only got greater
as we neared
the inauguration," said Hackett seventh-grade social studies teacher
Kelly Madison. "It was amazing to see how interested and excited they
were by everything
 that was going on around them. It was obvious that
they will remember this forever and it will only mean more to them as
they get older."
Eighth-grader Jennay Jones (right)
told the Times Union that her future has been changed by the
election of America's first African-American president.
"I think I'll have more opportunities to go
to better colleges," she said. "I think life will be easier for more
people."
At Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School, students
in grades 7-8 watched the inauguration live in the auditorium.
Students in grade 6 watched in their
classrooms.
Students and staff at Philip Livingston
Magnet Academy participated in a school-wide assembly to watch the
inauguration. The gathering included the reading of
an original poem, "President Update," by eighth-grader Sanaya
Arrington.
At North Albany
Academy, students and staff watched the inauguration
live at three locations in the school. Each student in Agija
VanDerweil's first-grade class took home a hard-cover biography of
President Obama, thanks to a Donors Choose grant Ms. VanDerweil
received. The grant also helped buy books that Ms. VanDerweil read with
her students in the days leading up to the inauguration. "They generated
some wonderful discussions," she said.
Albany School of
Humanities (ASH) held a school-wide Presidential Inauguration
Celebration. Students and staff watched the ceremony live in the
multifunction room, followed by performances and presentations capped by a parade march in the school.
Arbor Hill Elementary School students
received hand-delivered invitations to the school's inaugural event in
the auditorium in the former Schuyler Elementary School, where Arbor
Hill Elementary is located during renovations of its facility. The
school played "Hail to the Chief" on the loudspeaker, and Safety Patrol
members served as ushers as each grade entered to watch the ceremony
live.
At Delaware Community School,
students and staff gathered in four locations to watch the inauguration
 events.
"It was exciting to see their enthusiasm," said Interim Principal Gary
Beadnell. "They were cheering and applauding
at all the appropriate times, and listened intently to our new
president's speech."
At Eagle Point
Elementary School (right), the school day began with a school-wide
celebration that included songs, poems, a door-decorating contest
and the presentation of a school-wide mural dedicated to the Obamas’
daughters, entitled “From Our Children to Yours.”
Click
here to read third-grader Zylar Jones'
essay on freedom.
At
Giffen Memorial Elementary School, a school-wide
assembly featured a Parade of States and an inaugural
ball following the swearing-in ceremony. Students and staff watched
the ceremony live and guest DJs from JAMZ-96.3 also participated in the
afternoon’s events. "I hope they walk out of here with a feeling
of, 'Yes I can' in all the things they do, that their president is
someone who looks like them," special education teacher Cindi Clo told
the Times Union.
Check out
coverage of Giffen's events in the Times Union,
including
the newspaper's online
Photo Gallery (click on "Region celebrates").
Montessori
Magnet School held a morning assembly to discuss the
day’s events and National Day
of Service on Jan. 19 in
honor of Martin Luther King Jr. To honor President Obama and his
family, and Dr.
King’s legacy of
service, the school will
adopt a local pet shelter
and collect dog food to
donate in the spirit of the presidential puppy. The inauguration was shown live in the library and classrooms.
At New Scotland Elementary School,
students watched the inauguration in their classrooms and discussed the
events with their teachers.
 Pine Hills Elementary
School held an inaugural ball at lunchtime, including a live
viewing of the swearing-in ceremony. Grades 3-5 watched the ceremony
in the gym, and students in prekindergarten through grade 2 watched
in classrooms. The lunchtime gala featured remarks from three pairs of students
portraying Barack and Michelle Obama: LaQuan Ward and Ivory Moore,
Perriel Rich and Simone Zialu (right), and Patrick Ghyll and
Shanquell Melton.
WTEN/TV-10 visited the school to
report on the day's events.
At Schuyler
Achievement Academy, students and staff enjoyed
a celebratory event in the afternoon.
At Sheridan
Preparatory Academy, students and staff viewed a recorded version
of the inauguration ceremony in a school-wide assembly in the afternoon.
Students in kindergarten through grade 5 at
Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) joined
Arbor Hill Elementary School in their shared auditorium at the former
Schuyler Elementary School to watch the inauguration live. TOAST's
sixth-graders were on a field trip to the New York State Museum and
watched the event live while they were there.
The City School
District of Albany serves approximately 8,400 students in 18
elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood
schools, the district includes several
magnet school programs as well as other innovative academic
opportunities for students. The
district is nearing completion of its its comprehensive facilities
project to newly build and/or renovate nearly all of its elementary
and middle schools. The ultimate goal of the facilities project is
to provide schools with the resources necessary to help students
succeed in the 21st century.
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