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Students from Lordstown heading to D.C.

LORDSTOWN — Seventeen Lordstown students will be among the thousands present to witness the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday.

The political history club of Lordstown High School will be visiting Washington, D.C. to visit numerous historically significant sites, aside from the inauguration itself. About half the Lordstown students are Trump supporters, according to Superintendent Terry Armstrong. However, they are all interested in going to the inauguration because of the historic nature of the event.

“Typically these kinds of events are very student driven, and our students are very engaged in the political process,” Armstrong said.

In the past, Lordstown students have attended President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, and rallies for Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Obama.

“It’s the whole idea of getting involved in the political process,” senior Maya Kresic, 17, of Lordstown, said.

When planning the trip, Armstrong asked the students who they would like to bring along, and the students all responded their friends from Newbury High School. Students from Lordstown and Newbury first went to the Iowa Caucus together last year, during which many of the students formed friendships both in and out of the classroom.

“Some people from the groups have been texting each other as we’re getting closer to the trip, it’s a great relationship,” senior Josie Toporcer, 18, of Lordstown, said.

The majority of the students’ tickets were provided by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland, although U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Painesville, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, provided tickets as well. The students will visit the congressmen’s offices to receive their tickets.

Some events have been moved around, but highlights from the trip include visiting the FDR Memorial, the MLK Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the musical “Hamilton”, Union Station, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, Ford Theater, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian Museums, and meeting with Senator Brown and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. The students are especially fans of “Hamilton,” and that is expected to be a favorite event, although Armstrong said all the visits were determined by student interest.

“Everyone says we’ll have a great time, and to spend a lot of time at the Smithsonian,” sophomore Addie Wilson, 15 of Lordstown, said. “Everybody is excited to see Hamilton.”

Wilson has never visited D.C. before, and she said that just getting to see everything is going to be exciting.

“I’m excited to see the Treasury Building,” Toporcer said.

The night before the inauguration, the students will hold their own ball at the hotel with a catered dinner, then wake up at 4 a.m. to take the metro to the inauguration. When it is over, the students will take the metro back to the hotel and begin the trip home.

This year the cost per student was $400, and the students will get together at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning before leaving on the Anderson buses at 6 a.m.

ddye@tribtoday.com

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