By Valeria Araujo – Editor-in-Chief

Jonathan Law students will get to experience history in the making on a trip of a lifetime.

The history department has decided to a host a field trip to the inauguration of the 45th United States President. All juniors and seniors are invited to Washington, DC, from January 18-22 to explore the nation’s capital.

“Mr. Zuraw and I have been talking since September of last year about how cool it would be if we could take the kids to the inauguration because it’s never been done,” history teacher Ms. Burns said. “It’s so important especially this year. It’s going to be historic because we’re either going to have Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and you’re going to be there and watch them get sworn in.”

The cut-off date for signing up has been pushed back to October 1 to allow students’ more time to decide if they want to attend. Only 90 students will be allowed to attend so students interested should try their best to sign up as soon as possible.

“I’m an AP Government teacher so I always think it’s important to know and learn about any election because it affects them [the students] in so many ways,” history teacher Mr. Zuraw said. “I don’t know anybody who’s been to the inauguration so just to experience is neat because it brings to life what we’ve been learning in class.”

To reserve their spot on the trip students must go to http://www.elxporica.com/Burns-1365 and sign all of the necessary paperwork and pay the $50 sign-up fee. There are also payment plans available for the trip which costs approximately $700.

“I’ve never been [to the inauguration] and Washington, DC, is one of my favorite places to go,” Zuraw said. “I also like doing things with students outside of the classroom because that’s always quite fun. Whether it’s a field trip or a sporting event, it’s always pretty cool.”

Students who decide to attend this trip will get to enjoy more than just the inauguration and spending time with classmates. There are many other opportunities including traveling to the Washington Monument, visiting memorials, and even a ghost tour of the city.

“It’s five days in Washington, DC,” Burns said. “The big thing is that we’re going to the inauguration but aside from that we are going to see the monuments, tour the Holocaust Museum and others, go to Mount Vernon (which is George Washington’s home), to the Arlington National Cemetery, we’re doing a guided tour of the Capital and the Supreme Court, and also going to the National Archives to see the Constitution and other important papers.”

Although the presidential election only happens every four years, Burns and Zuraw plan to make this a recurring trip so that all students are able to experience this event.

They also have plans in store for students who will be out of school by the time the next election comes around.

“Because unfortunately since we only take upperclassmen, some students are always going to miss out,” Burns said. “So we’re trying to figure out something we can do every two years – maybe not to Washington, but to find an alternate place so that at least everybody would be invited at some point to go on a trip like this one.”