By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
For educators, an event like the historic Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday is a learning opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.
Recognizing this, Princeton-area school district administrators are working on ways to incorporate the ceremonies into their curriculum, to broaden their students’ understanding of the political system as well as to recognize the significance of the event.
Steve Mayer, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, said he recently met with school principals to discuss how to best handle the activities for the Inauguration.
”We recognize the historic significance of the day and are actually quite excited that it comes straight following the Martin Luther King weekend and holiday,” Mr. Mayer said.
Though there are some technological barriers, the district is hoping students across the district will be able to watch the inauguration speech live, he said. Where there is no cable, students will attempt to watch streaming video of the speech online.
”We are treating the Inauguration as essentially one of those ‘where were you then’ kind of moments in history,” he said.
Social studies supervisors worked on developing discussion questions for students of all different levels, he said, to address the historic significance of the day, the inauguration process, the nature of democracy and other related topics.
Students at a higher level will be asked to reflect on what they heard in the speech and the challenges the new president faces, he said.
Even younger students will be pausing to watch the event.
At the district’s Wicoff Elementary School, staff and students will be wearing red, white and blue to mark the day, according to district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner. The principal will lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance over the public address system in the morning, she said, and will review the importance of the day with the students.
At Princeton Regional Schools, Superintendent Judy Wilson said the school also is hoping to let as many students as possible to watch the event live.
”It’s such a fabulous moment,” she said. “We don’t want students to miss the swearing in or the speech. The rest they can watch later.”
The event will be used to create dialogue about the campaign and election process, she said.
”It will be a fabulous teaching tool, of course,” she said.
Dr. Rick Miller, social studies supervisor for the district, said exactly how the event will be handled still is being decided.
At the middle school level, students will be writing reflections on the speech and new president’s priorities, he said.
High school students will be taking it one step further, he said, as students will be relating the issues discussed in the speech to their own lives.
”We’re being a witness to history so it’s important,” he said.
In Montgomery School District, how to handle the Inauguration is up to individual school principals, district spokeswoman Lisarenee Benz said.
At the Lower Campus Middle School, students will be watching the inauguration speech and discussing the historic importance of the event. In some classrooms, students will watch a tape of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech and discuss how it relates to the election of the first black president.
Students and teachers at Orchard Hill Elementary School will be watching a recording of the Inauguration, the presidential speech and parade after their lunches Tuesday. Students and teachers will be encouraged to wear red, white and blue, and teachers have planned a presidential scavenger hunt for students to learn facts about President-elect Obama.
A contest will be held at Village Elementary School for students to write an inaugural address of their own. A winner from the third grade, one from the fourth grade and one who submitted their speech online will be selected. The winners will read their address on the school news.

