Teens from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee will be attending Friday’s presidential inauguration. Chaperones chose the 33 students from the club’s character and leadership and arts programs based on essays they wrote. The club’s art department program manager, La’ Ketta Caldwell, said the trip to Washington D.C., is already having an impact.
“They want to be more active, volunteer more,” Caldwell said. “They want to talk to other young people, younger than them, about how they can have the opportunity to see the world.”
Caldwell said being in Washington and attending the presidential inauguration could have a lifelong impact.
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“They can tell their kids,” she said. “They can tell their grandchildren that they saw something they learned about in history class. They actually had the opportunity to physically see what happens during the inauguration.”
She said the students will be seeing institutions they learn about in school, which could have a positive impact on their performance in the classroom.
She said despite the controversy surrounding President-elect Donald Trump, it’s still important for them to experience a piece of American history.
The trip was funded by a donation from former-Senator Herb Kohl. Caldwell said more than half of the teens have never been out of Wisconsin before. They will return to Milwaukee Sunday night after spending four days in the nation’s capital.
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