Valley residents watch history unfold

Young people had been following the election all of last year.

STAFF REPORT

It was a history lesson that young people will remember forever.

Where they were when Barack Obama became the 44th U.S. president will be one of those life moments that will shape their future.

It was, the new president said, “a moment that will define a generation.” The work of remaking America has begun, he said, with a new era of responsibility.

That significance wasn’t lost on young people watching the speech Tuesday inside Mahoning Valley schools.

Good start, good sign

Boardman Glenwood Middle School eighth-graders Joe Lamping and Chris Riwniak, both 14, and Kaitlyn Thompson and Katrina Watkins, both 13, believe they will remember the inauguration for all their lives.

“I think it’s pretty significant,” Chris said. “It’s a good start.”

Kaitlyn agreed. “It’s a good sign for our future, I think.”

“It’s the first mixed-race president that we know of,” added Joe.

Katrina isn’t an Obama fan and likely would have voted for U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Republican president nominee, had she been old enough to vote.

“But I hope Obama proves me wrong,” Katrina said.

Though the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were likely the most memorable event thus far in their lives, the Boardman pupils view President Obama’s election and inauguration as something they can tell their children about one day.

“If he does good things, then I’ll probably tell my kids about the good things that he did,” Joe explained.

With the economic turmoil at home and ongoing wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the new president has a lot to deal with.

Chris believes he needs to be cautious about withdrawing troops from Iraq. It has to be done the right way and not all at once, he said.

Katrina agrees. If not, the United States risks being attacked by forces in that region, she said.

Also on the new president’s plate is the rest of the world’s view of the United States, Joe said. “Much of the rest of the world, they don’t see us as a good thing,” he said.

A year of learning

A school year spent learning about the democratic process came full circle as third- and fourth-grade pupils at C.H. Campbell Elementary watched President Obama take his oath of office.

It was a moment many at the Canfield school said would be remembered as one of the most historic during their lifetime.

“I’m excited that he is the first black president,” said Zehra Faizan, 9, of Canfield. “Also, more people voted in this election than in any other election.”

Zehra’s classmate, Gavin Kostelic, 10, of Canfield, said he’s happy that Obama is promising change.

“Things are going to be new this year,” he said. “Obama is going to bring new things. He’s going to bring change.”

Fourth-grade teacher Dana Zarlenga-Buist said watching the inauguration was exciting for the children because they’d been following the election all school year.

“The kids were so excited about watching this part of history,” she said.

Zarlenga-Buist said Obama’s presidency will open the door for children to realize that anything is possible.

“They will watch this, and they won’t see a black president as being any different than any other president,” she said.

Emotions in check

The inaugural celebration held at Youngstown State University drew some who aren’t affiliated with the campus.

Hubert Hughley, 15, is a black sophomore at East High School in Youngstown and came with about 20 members of his social studies class to witness the event on the big screen in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center.

Hughley said the message is bigger than the election of the first black president.

“It’s more about the change we’re about to go through,” he said, explaining that he anticipates a strong push toward volunteerism and a reduction in taxes, among other things.

Also at YSU was Diane Dent, who struggled to keep her emotions in check as she watched Obama take the oath of office.

A nontraditional student at Youngstown State, the 56-year-old city resident was one of several hundred people who filled the Chestnut Room.

Dent, a black woman, daubed at tears on her face as she listened to the new president deliver his inaugural address.

Like those in attendance at the actual event in Washington, D.C., the crowd in Kilcawley rose to its feet as Obama took the oath and cheered as he finished.

“I was happy. I was overcome,” Dent said, explaining the tears.

It wasn’t that Obama is America’s first black president but the message he delivered that affected her so deeply, she said.

It’s like working as one, as a nation, as a world, to overcome the obstacles that face us, she said.

“We need this. I really think it can happen if we all do our part,” Dent said.

Reflections

Acknowledging the significance of Tuesday’s ceremony, classrooms at Howland Middle School dedicated an hour to history — no matter the designated course subject.

A group of sixth-graders found their own pieces of hope in the inaugural speech: a boost in jobs, helping the planet and an end to overseas conflict.

“I liked when he said he wants to try and make peace with all the other nations,” said sixth-grader Dylon McElhaney.

In an actual history classroom, where students’ desks radiated from a corner facing a mounted television, two classes of eighth-graders watched as Obama pledged his commitment to the nation.

For 14-year-old Jasmine Baugh, his speech had the right mix of hindsight and forward-looking. She said she was particularly moved by his recognition of race in the day’s significance.

“When he said a guy his skin color wouldn’t be served at a restaurant counter 60 years ago, and now he’s president, I thought it was so true,” she said.

“Sixty years ago, he wouldn’t have been served.”

Her classmates concurred, and many said the speech was good from beginning to end.

Teacher Becky Peckarovic said the class had witnessed the end of nearly two years of presidential campaigning not a moment too soon. “They were so excited today when they came in — you could just feel it,” she said. “Everybody wanted to be a part of this.”