Students ambassadors go to Washington

Photo by Johnny Jackson Stockbridge Elementary School?s student ambassador organization was invited to attend the 2013 Presidential Inauguration. Students will spend four days in Washington, D.C., learning about national government and history.

STOCKBRIDGE ? Angie Perez is thrilled by the prospect of meeting national leaders this month but that is not all she is excited about.

?It would be my first time sleeping on a bus away from home,? said Perez, 9. ?I think it?s going to be fun.?

Perez is a member of the Stockbridge Elementary School Ambassadors, a group consisting of 20 second-grade and third-grade student leaders. The group was invited last fall to attend the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C.

The students will take part in a four-day excursion beginning Jan. 19 with lessons on government and national history.

Principal Bonita Fluker said the ambassadors group seeks to provide students diverse social development and peer engagement.

Fluker described them as diverse and academically strong. Eight nationalities are represented in the lot of top-performing students; and some are bilingual. But most will gain firsthand experiences in the places they have only studied in classroom textbooks.

?The students have studied government and democracy within the classroom but this takes it to a totally different level,? said Fluker. ?They will now receive an opportunity to see government in action. It?s an awesome opportunity for students to experience history in the making.?

Christina Freeman is the instructional lead teacher at Stockbridge Elementary. She was involved in making initial contact with officials at the Smithsonian.

Education First Smithsonian Student Travel planned the trip which will include visits to the Library of Congress, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court and the White House.

Freeman said students group will tour the Smithsonian, the National Mall, Arlington National Cemetery and Mount Vernon. They will see President Barack Obama take the Oath of Office and will attend the Inauguration Parade and an inaugural ball.

They plan to meet with their U.S. Congressman David Scott (D-Jonesboro) at his Washington, D.C., office.

Getting to Washington, D.C., has not been an easy task, said Fluker.

The ambassadors won a grant that will cover half the trip?s cost. But for the past two months, students have been raising money to help offset the remaining expenses, which amount to about $1,080 per student.

?The students and parents have worked very hard to raise the funds,? said Fluker. ?There has also been a outreach to local businesses to help the students with a very unique opportunity.?

Fluker said the school has set up a fundraising page to help the children and their families pay the cost of the trip at www.gofundme.com/1ijw00.

Source: http://www.henryherald.com/news/2013/jan/14/students-ambassadors-go-washington/

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