PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Tuesday brought a real-life history lesson for student journalists at Philadelphia Central High School who traveled to Harrisburg to cover the inauguration of Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Witnessing the state’s transfer of power is something Central senior Peyton Buie has always wanted to do.
“I’ve always been interested since I was little in having the opportunity to see it in person. It just makes it real for me,” she said.
“I see the inauguration on TV, and actually being in a place where a historical moment is happening, it kind of fills my heart up.”
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Senior Chessie Hoekzema described the trip as a chance to evaluate government herself, and not through the perspectives of others.
“Everybody’s got their postings about what happened with this president or this representative,” she told KYW Newsradio.
“Actually getting to see it in person and talk to the people who control the government and the laws is really exciting.”
It’s one thing to read about the governor’s inauguration in news reports or follow along on TV. It’s another to experience it in person.
“You can hear both perspectives,” Hoekzema said. “But until you do it for yourself, you don’t actually know.”
The opportunity to witness history in person makes the trip a true learning experience, said Central social science teacher Michael Horwits.
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“I think a big part of service-learning is the opportunity to celebrate and also be student journalists,” he said. “Hands-on, and empower young people to think critically about this whole event that they’re going to witness.”
Students are dispatching inauguration reports on their Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“They also have reporter’s notebooks,” Horwits said. “They’re going to be covering it and writing back to the school paper and presenting it in front of our faculty.”