Yorba Linda High School students to attend Trump inauguration; other trips scheduled

Sixteen junior and senior students from Yorba Linda High School will be among a history-making crowd of two to three million people expected to view the inauguration of Donald Trump as the country's 45^th president next month.

The students, chaperoned by a teacher and two parents, will spend five days in Washington, D.C., and tour a number of historic sites, including Arlington National Cemetery, the National Archives, the Smithsonian museums, several monuments and the National Mall.

The Jan. 18-22 field trip will view the inauguration ceremony and parade Jan. 20 and join other students in the evening to discuss experiences, as organized by World Stride Tours.

“The students will remember this event the rest of their lives,” Principal Dave Flynn told Placentia-Yorba Linda school trustees in a memo seeking approval for the trip, planned before the outcome of the election was known.

The group will stay at the Marriot Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, and miss three school days. The only cost to the district will be $414 for a substitute teacher. Coincidentally, trustees approved the trip at a meeting the night of the election, Nov. 8.

Three other interesting history-related field trips have been approved for students:

--All 180 eighth-grade students in the magnet Gifted and Talented Education program at Kraemer Middle School will participate in a day-long living history event on the Civil War, scheduled for May 11 at Riley's Farm in Oak Glen.

Students will participate in a state rights debate; vote on whether to secede, join the union or stay neutral; and visit workshops with topics on school of the soldier, general mercantile, camp life, the agricultural south, the surgeon, etiquette, the war at home and marching.

After experiencing a soldier's food ration – and their own sack lunches – students will witness a mock battle and gather for closing discussions.

Principal Keith Carmona reported to trustees that field experiences have been one of the strengths of the district's magnet GATE program. This year, they opted “to stay in the local area” to reduce costs “so that more students might participate in a truly unique and exciting educational program,” he noted.

--Fifth grade students at Fairmont Elementary School will participate in a one-day event at Colonial Chesterfield, also at Riley's Farm, June 13 on “the personal impact and economic hardships of the American Revolution.”

The 144 students “will participate in the living exploration of the American Revolutionary War with six to eight dramatic and cultural workshops,” Principal Cindy Fox reported. They'll also view two mock battle scenarios.

--Also traveling to Colonial Chesterfield will be 62 fourth-grade students from Mabel Paine Elementary School Jan. 19 for a one-day California gold rush event, with recreations of gold mining, panning, sluice box operation, assaying and camp life, Principal Tamara Beeuwsaert reported.