On December 14, several scholars from Democracy Prep Congress Heights Elementary had the chance to visit the White House and meet the President and First Lady. In this post, Diamond, a sixth grader at DPCHE recounts their visit.
I felt so excited when I walked through the doors of the White House. It made me think of all the kids that don’t have the chance to go. It was a once in a lifetime chance.
I felt like I was going to faint, everything was so perfect. I got to see the China Room, Grand Room, Green Room, and the Red Room. I was hoping that there was a Blue Room because my favorite color is blue, and it turns out that they do have a blue room! As we walked around, I didn’t really hear anything because it was very quiet, and there weren’t that many people there, but you could tell that the people that were there were focused on business.
I also had the chance to meet my inspiration, Barack Obama, and shake his hand! I will always remember that I got to meet, hug, and take pictures with Michelle Obama too! I thought I was just having the best dream of my kid life, and my kid life isn’t even over yet!
Being at Democracy Prep has taught me how to advocate for myself and how to speak properly and how to have an powerful conversation with someone and I had the chance to do that with the First Lady.
I told the First Lady that I was inspired by her to make our school garden because I know that she loves making gardens. I explained how I created a petition of all the people in my class that wanted to help. Our next step was calling organizations, and before you know it we called The Mission Continues, and they helped us build our garden.
The First Lady talked to us about how it was hard growing up in Chicago and how some kids would tease smart kids for having an education and kids would dumb themselves down to fit in so they wouldn’t get teased. She told us that she wasn’t going to be like everyone else. That inspired me because even though everyone else didn’t want an education the First Lady knew that if she played around in school as a little kid that would impact her life when she got older. Some kids may distract people purposely to get off track knowing that THEY WANT TO LEARN!
Democracy Prep is very focused on learning. They want us to go to college. People like Chief Justice Scalia and many others think that African Americans won’t make it in this world, and that we should go to slower-track schools. However, would the First Lady have gone to Princeton if she wasn’t going to make it in this world? Would the first black president make it as the President?
The First Lady taught me to always speak out about something and never stand with the wrong crowd. If you are the only one that wants to learn then be the only one that wants to learn. Certain people in this world may never think you will make it but don’t ever listen to them. Go above that, stand strong, and raise your head high because you can and will always make it.
Going to the White House was the best trip ever!
About the Author:
This post was written by Diamond E., a sixth-grade scholar at Democracy Prep Congress Heights Elementary. Diamond loves reading and spending time with her friends in the DPCHE garden.