Cascade students D.C.-bound again for inauguration

EVERETT — More than two dozen Cascade High School students were motivated more by a sense of witnessing history than by a partisan political stripe when they signed up to attend the Jan. 21 presidential inauguration.

The contingent of 29 students and nine adults didn’t know who was going to be the next president when they committed in September to the cross-country trip to the nation’s capital.

That’s heartening to Melissa Webster, a Cascade American government teacher who took another group of students to President Barack Obama’s first inauguration four years ago.

Webster was on the fence during the summer about whether she would try to organize another inauguration adventure.

“I was debating whether or not to do it again,” Webster said. “It was the kids who came and said, ‘Are you going to do this?’”

Webster couldn’t turn them down.

She said she sees a concerned generation that grew up with the 9/11 attacks, American military involvement in the Middle East and economic hard times. It recognizes a need to take part in the political process to try to carve out a better quality of life, she said.

With the help of the state’s congressional delegation, the students will have tickets to witness Obama’s ceremonial swearing-in at the Capitol followed by his inaugural address.

“It just makes history and democracy real,” Webster said. “It makes it jump off the page.”

Her enthusiasm is shared by her students.

Senior Danielle Nejbauer has been counting down the days since November.

“I can’t wait,” she said.

Fellow senior Amy Boswell was born in England and moved to America when she was 10.

At 17, she considers herself fortunate to have the chance to witness history.

“I think seeing the actual swearing in of a president is cool,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to being there.”

The students also are eager to participate in several side trips, including the Capitol, the Pentagon memorial to the 9/11 victims, and Ford’s Theater where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, as well as the Smithsonian Institution museums and Arlington National Cemetery.

It is at the national cemetery where Nejbauer and three other Cascade students are planning to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. They earned that privilege based on essays they submitted at their school.

“I think I’m going to be absolutely in awe the entire time,” Nejbauer said. “I don’t think it’s something you can understand until you are actually there and can truly feel it.”

Both Boswell and Nejbauer will juggle sightseeing with the reality of returning into the teeth of finals week, including a calculus exam the morning after they return. They plan to study as time allows.

“It’ll be worth it,” Nejbauer said.

For Bill Stengele, a Cascade High School American history teacher, the visit to the national cemetery will be an opportunity to delve into his family history. His great-grandfather, Harry Everest Stengele II, a naval veteran of World War I, is buried there. During a school trip when he was in the eighth grade, Bill Stengele had hoped to find the grave site, but he was told there wasn’t enough time.

He has lived with the disappointment since.

This time, he said, it’s built into the itinerary.

He is happy for the students who get to go.

“This will stay with them for the rest of their lives and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” he said.

The students might bump into Everett School Board member Pam LeSesne who planned her own trip to the inauguration. She will accompany her daughter, Samantha LeSesne, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

“She is always saying to me, ‘Mom, why don’t you come out to visit?’ So I am,” she said. “I just felt I would really like to see this. I am at an age to really appreciate it.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order halting work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.