DALTON, Ga. — Eighty-five students from across Georgia are planning to travel to Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20 and among them are 50 middle-schoolers from Whitfield County Schools.

Pare Chalamaneeporn, a seventh-grader at North Whitfield Middle School, said she is looking forward to her first trip to D.C.

“I’m really excited to see Trump become president,” she said. “Not many people get to see an inauguration. Considering how young I am it’s a great accomplishment.”

The trip is being made possible by a grant of $67,500 from a donor.

Randell E. Trammell is CEO of the the Georgia Center for Civic Engagement, which is sponsored by the State YMCA of Georgia.

“It’s a student service organization that teaches students the importance of volunteering in school and community service projects,” Trammell said. “We do a lot of programs to teach civic engagement. One of the programs is a model state legislature where kids model representatives and senators.”

Joe Barnett, the principal at Valley Point Middle School, said Trammell brought the program to the school district. It’s part of the Junior Youth Assembly program for middle schools.

“It’s a great organization for teaching leadership skills, civic engagement and service to others,” Barnett said. “It’s the kind of programming that you want young people involved in.”

Barnett said that in August Trammell presented an opportunity for students to participate in the Junior Youth Assembly as senators or representatives along with a potential trip to the inauguration.

“I told my students we have this opportunity and we need to take advantage of it,” Barnett said.

Ten students were chosen from each middle school: Eastbrook, New Hope, North Whitfield, Valley Point and Westside.

Students were required to have a teacher recommendation and to write an essay on topics such as what it means to be a good citizen, what this opportunity would mean, qualities of leadership and how the student is a leader in his or her community and school.

The essays were given to Trammell. A committee chose the 50 students.

“It was competitive, but we wanted them to have some investment in the opportunity and be able to connect it to the citizenship and the government piece,” Trammell said. “Learning about the government … is the ultimate goal here.”

Andrea Bradley, principal of North Whitfield, said it’s a “chance of a lifetime” for the students.

“We are very thankful to have this opportunity,” Bradley said. “I wish we all could go, but the 10 students here are really interested in government.”

Chalamaneeporn said she’s surprised she was chosen.

“I guess my love of debating helped to get me chosen,” she said.

Brody Kinsey, a seventh-grader at Valley Point, was chosen as the best Senate speaker during the Junior Youth Assembly Conference in Atlanta in November. He said the program is good for students.

“It gets us kids involved in politics, which is a good thing, and it can encourage more people to vote,” he said.

Kinsey said he’s looking forward to seeing the new president and learning how the inauguration process works.

Katie Balino also is looking forward to the inauguration.

“This has been a really big presidential race so it’s exciting to see how it ends,” said Balino, an eighth-grader at Westside.

Westside Principal Angela Hargis said she’s very proud of her students.

“We are so excited, we told the students it would be an opportunity to see history alive,” she said.

Hargis is one of the 25 chaperones going on the trip. Each school is sending one or two.

Barnett said the grant covers transportation and hotel costs. The group will leave Georgia by bus on Jan. 17 and return on Jan. 21.

“We’re doing fundraising locally to give kids spending money because they are responsible for a couple of meals,” Barnett said.

Trammell said his organization is teaching students that citizenship doesn’t begin once you start voting.

“Citizenship is now and you can make your school and community better,” he said. “Youth have a voice and should exercise it.”

Trammell said the program helps students find their voice and empowers them to use it.

“I get to come back in my profession and adult life and invest in the community who made me who I am,” said Trammell, a Valley Point and Southeast Whitfield High School alumnus.

Barnett said he wants to ensure the importance of the youth leadership program and the inauguration trip are understood.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said.

Hargis agrees.

“It’s a learning opportunity you just can’t write in a lesson plan,” she said.

One hundred people will attend the trip from all over the state: 25 adults and 85 students. Of those, 59 are from Whitfield County (50 students and nine adults).

The students are: from Eastbrook, Karen Garcia, Emily (Abby) Wright, Fredy Ambriz, Jeric Gann, Arturo Pintor, Gavon Willis, Sabrina Carrillo, Sally Garcia, Cassandra Hyer and Rubi Zapien; from New Hope, Conner Brown, Jorge Contreras, Jake Kyer, Alex Robinson, Chloe Hutchinson, Kiersten Kubin, Gillian Vaughn, Taylor Brown, Hallie Goble and Alex Mocine; from North Whitfield, Destiny Brock, Naytzel Cervantes, Pare Chalamaneeporn, Will Bates, Elliott Green, Brayden Turso, Baylor Walker, Annalise Holley, Allie Mayfield and Emalee Stevens; from Valley Point, Anthony Bello, Hayley Buhl, JoAnna DeLeon, Arely Franco, Juan Garnica, Brody Kinsey, Vanessa Mendez, Alondra Mendoza, Marlene Paez and Avery Woodson; and from Westside, Audrey Grace Holder, Diana Perez, Iris Putnam, Abby Adams, Katie Balino, Camryn Bond, Sarah Crawford, Bryce Farmer, Parker Hargis and Reece McCoy.

(Source: State YMCA of Georgia)