A delegation from Salesian High School attending the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama Tuesday in Washington, D.C., poses in front of the nation’s Capitol Building. From left are Alex Ibarra, a freshman; Steven Almazan, a senior; Moises Delgado, the admissions director at Salesian; and Sergio Almazan, a Salesian High graduate and the brother of Steven.
Story Created:
Jan 23, 2009 at 12:06 PM PST
Story Updated:
Jan 23, 2009 at 12:06 PM PST
Between one and two million people gathered in the nation’s capitol Tuesday to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.
Among those in attendance were students from area schools who managed to finagle tickets — some of the hottest inauguration tickets in memory — and then brave chilly winter weather to witness history.
Among those attending the inauguration were two students from Salesian High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Boyle Heights.
The school received four tickets from Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard. The tickets were used by Steven Almazan, a senior who is the top-ranked student in his class; and freshman Alex Ibarra, who is the top-ranked student in his class.
The two students were accompanied by Moises Delgado, a member of the Salesian graduating class of 1997 who now serves as admissions director at the school; and Sergio Almazan, Steven’s older brother and also a Salesian graduate.
The group departed for Washington Sunday night and were expected to return Thursday. Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, also a Salesian graduate, visited the campus Sunday to wish the group a good trip.
A larger delegation from La Serna High School in Whittier also attended the inauguration.
The delegation included 42 students, several parents, teachers Cecilia Juarez and Shannon Thompson and Assistant Principal Rita Stevens.
The trip was the brainchild of Juarez, who began making plans for the trip in 2007. About a year ago, Thompson approached Juarez about organizing a trip to the inauguration and found out that her colleague had already started preparations.
The students had to raise $2,000 for the five-day, four night trip that began Saturday and ended Wednesday.
Senior Alyssia Motah, who is the editor of the school’s yearbook, was among the students making the trip and will report on the trip for this year’s yearbook.
The group also planned to tour historic sites in the Washington, D.C., area and visit the Smithsonian Institute.
Two Whittier College students also attended the inauguration.
Teresa Baranowski, a junior majoring in political science; and Neslie Tumulac, a junior with a self-designed major focusing on community and urban studies; are taking part in a 10-day trip as part of the college’s Nixon Fellowship program, named after Whittier College’s most famous alumnus, President Richard Nixon.
The program helps prepare students for informed citizenship and service, while giving them research opportunities to echo Nixon’s legacy in domestic and foreign policy.
Both are filing blogs about their experiences and they were also featured on the C-SPAN program “Q&A” last week.
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