Scranton High in Washington, DC

One more thing… Here is the radio interview of Emma Kearney (along with Mr. Curry) that was broadcast on the CBC (Canada and norther US) show “As it Happens”. It was recorded about an hour after the Inauguration speech. It starts at 38:25 (Jan 20 episode: Contending with Donald Trump on Day One). Emma was awesome!!!

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-2-as-it-happens/clip/16122371-contending-donald-trump-day-one

Continuing with our “unfinished business”… There are so many great things that happen within the Scranton School District and at Scranton High School every day. Sadly, it is often the negative stories that make it on TV or in the paper. Our local media did an excellent job letting NEPA know about some of the amazing students that we have at Scranton High, featuring them in the stories about our trip to DC last week. We already covered Sarah with WVIA, but now it’s time to recognize some other local journalists that promoted these students from SHS. Mr. Skot and Mr. Curry provided the background and the context, but the real story is these students who committed to this endeavor a year ago. Gianna Galli (WBRE/WYOU - PA Homepage), Liz Haikes (Fox 56), Jack Culkin (WNEP), and Christine Lee (Scranton Times) did a phenomenal job of letting these young men and women be the focus of the story and putting this moment into historical relevance. We are appreciative of their efforts and look forward to working with them again! Below are the links to each of their stories…

PA Homepage Gianna Galli
https://www.pahomepage.com/news/scranton-students-to-attend-upcoming-presidential-inauguration/

Fox 56 Liz Haikes
https://fox56.com/news/local/history-in-the-making-scranton-students-to-attend-presidential-inauguration?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3dMkMH_M-eRxxsObBhi-aThoYRncMCIEyu5MYfyAMm7SbiEjsMqieIzoY_aem_7y9jJSBAFd2ivxnqdh9OOg

WNEP Jack Culkin
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/scranton-high-school-students-prepare-for-historic-inauguration-trip-donald-trump-washington-dc/523-8c3c736f-ce48-45e8-9e1e-68651a933712?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0IxAxujGkB9BkpmIMK6FxOB9TAEjRVwZqsTkK_ZfpK86mDX3zkuoOwJq0_aem_K2nGIYCtL4wEbmjdVVxjyA

Scranton Times-Tribune Christine Lee
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2025/01/17/scranton-high-school-students-teachers-to-attend-presidential-inauguration/

Scranton students to attend upcoming presidential inauguration SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Students in our area are getting ready to witness history. They will make the trip to our nation’s capital next week for the presidential inauguratio…

So we know that we said our last post was three days ago… but there is some unfinished business. Sarah Hofius Hall has been working with us since 2008 when she was with the Scranton Times. She has since moved on to WVIA/NPR, but she is still our first point of contact when it comes to promoting the amazing students at Scranton High School and in the Scranton School District. She also reaches out to us when she is looking for a student or teacher perspective on a current event or the anniversary of a historical event. This mutual respect and admiration is the basis of this THANK YOU. She wrote four articles covering our adventures in the District… and as a result of her first, we were invited to be interviewed live during the Inaugural coverage of ABC News (national), CBS News (national) and the CBC in Canada and northern North America. Due to the changes in location of the ceremony, we lost the live opportunities with ABC and CBS, but we were able to talk on the phone with the CBC (will post soon). We have included all of the links to Sarah’s coverage below. She is one of NEPA’s best and we appreciate her efforts so much!

https://www.wvia.org/news/local/2025-01-16/historic-field-trip-scranton-high-school-students-to-attend-trump-inauguration

https://www.wvia.org/news/local/2025-01-20/with-inauguration-moved-inside-scranton-high-students-feel-letdown-but-lucky-to-be-in-d-c

https://www.wvia.org/news/local/2025-01-20/from-rodanos-to-the-rotunda-pennsylvanians-commemorate-trumps-second-inauguration

https://www.wvia.org/news/local/2025-01-22/scranton-high-on-capitol-hill-students-meet-with-lawmakers-on-final-day-of-inauguration-trip

Historic field trip: Scranton High School students to attend Trump inauguration Teachers Sean Curry and Jerry Skotleski will take students to a presidential inauguration for a fifth time. Students committed to the trip before knowing who would become the 47th president and look forward to a "once-in-lifetime" experience.

Our final post from our trip to DC with some pictures that we had not previously posted. Each of the Inauguration trips present different challenges, the students are different, the weather is an unknown, and the political climate shifts back and forth. However, in the end, there has been a few constants: the support of (1) our administration, faculty and staff of Scranton High, (2) our school board, Superintendent and administration of the Scranton School District, and (3) the Scranton community, the media, and our families and friends within. We can’t have the success that we have had with these trips without the backing of all of those both directly and indirectly involved… and we appreciate it so much. Thank you for having our backs every four years for the Inaugural trips, and any other trips that we organize in between. Finally, our high school, our school district, our families, and our community should be incredibly proud of these students. They sacrificed a 3 day weekend to learn and hang out with their teachers, they went into this blind as to who the candidates would be and who would eventually win, and they paid out of pocket and fundraised a lot of money. They handled themselves as mature young men and women, great representatives of their families. We are so proud of their commitment and effort before and during this once in a lifetime opportunity. We hope that they have learned many history and life lessons from our journeys… because in the end… it’s all about the children.

Day 4 Part 3: we went to the Capitol Visitors Center and met Representative Rob Bresnahan’s staff for a tour of the Capitol. His staff did an amazing job, telling stories that even Skotleski and Curry had not heard! While in the Rotunda, Representative Bresnahan joined us, talked to the students, took a group photo ON THE STAGE THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP took the Oath of Office, took many pictures with any student that asked, and then helped guide the tour for a while! Representative Bresnahan and his staff were fantastic!

Day 4 Part 2: we left the Senate office building after lunch and went to the US Supreme Court. The Court was in session, so we could not get in, but we used the opportunity the teach and tell stories about SCOTUS.

Day 4 Part 1: We started our day on Capitol Hill and met with Senator Fetterman and his staff in his office. He spent a lot of time with the kids, and he and his staff went out of their way to accommodate us. We then decided to “pop in” on Senator McCormick in his temporary basement office. He stopped what he was doing to come out and meet our students. He and his staff were really nice to our group. As we were leaving the Senate office buildings we ran into former Representative and current Senator Adam Schiff from California! He was so happy to hear that we were from Scranton and talked to the students about the fires in LA before taking a picture with the students. Heck of a start to the day!

After our watch party, discussion of the Inauguration and speech, and interviews with the media… we hosted a trivia night! Topics were Monuments, Memorials, Inauguration History and General Knowledge. There was a cash prize for the winning team! We also were able to watch President Biden leave the White House in Marine 1 (his helicopter). We also had a visit from former SHS student and Curry/Skotleski student Charlie Prothero! Finally, we went to the Pentagon City Mall for dinner.

Finished our watch party and open discussion/Q&A after President Trump’s speech. Then some of our students did an interview with Sarah Hofius Hall from WVIA/NPR and Emma was interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Company!

When Mother Nature drops -5 windchills, Inaugural Ceremony is moved indoors, & Jumbotrons are removed from the Mall, time to take these lemons & make best lemonade we can. Viewing party at Arlington Court Suites Hotel, staying warm & witnessing history!

Two awesome moments yesterday while in the District…
1. One of our students was able to find her grandmother’s brother’s name on the Vietnam Wall! Family had never seen it before.
2. Two of our students who plan on enlisting in the Air Force took a picture in front of the “Freedom is not Free” Wall at the Korean War Memorial.
This trip is not just about the Inauguration, Museums, Memorials, and Monuments… it is also about these personal moments that connect relevance on many levels.