EVERETT – At Everett High School Civic Auditorium, there were collective ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ at the first panoramic images of the flag-waving crowd in Washington, D.C., and a long sustained applause when Barack Obama first appeared on the large television screen.
Beforehand, Principal Catherine Matthews told the students, “I predict you will all be telling your grandkids about this.”
Without being told, students stood for the oath of office.
Most of the students at the school crowded into the lower section of the auditorium. Others watched from their classrooms.
Jessica Zamora, a junior, said she enjoyed hearing the president emphasize old themes of loyalty, patriotism and accepting different cultures.
“It is something we all need to be interested in no matter how old we are,” she said.
Derrick Thomas, another junior, said he is glad his school let him watch the inauguration “and not just because we get to miss class.”
“This is living history in the making,” he said.
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