Seizing the opportunity to watch history in the making, 11 Elk Grove High School students and two teachers traveled across the country to witness the presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump.

Early last year, WorldStrides, a leading student travel company, contacted the Social Science and Foreign Language division head, who then reached out to some of the history teachers.

Eleven students flew to Washington, D.C. with chaperones David Dompke, math teacher, and Stephanie Kezios, history teacher. Arriving on Thursday morning and flying back on Sunday night, they stayed in the nation’s capital for four days.

Junior Hannah Siebert, who went on the trip, said the highlight of the trip, for her, was the inauguration itself. “It was cool to see the process of transitioning to a different president, and I enjoyed it a lot,” she said.

For the inauguration, they woke up early to find their place on the National Mall.

Afterwards, they went to the Smithsonian, and that was around the time violence began to break out around Washington, D.C. According to the

Washington Post, protestors were throwing bricks, burning flags, and setting fires in the middle of streets. Some concerned Elk Grove parents began texting their children to make sure they were okay, but the students were unaware of the protests within the city. In fact, they didn’t encounter much negativity during the entire trip.

Kezios said, “There were a lot of people there to protest against the Trump administration, but that wasn’t our experience. It was an ugly election. I was very worried it would be a dark day, and I didn’t want it to ruin the trip, and thank goodness we had a really positive experience.”

On the Saturday following the inauguration, the students saw some of the people participating in the Women’s March. They spoke to one of the women in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Kezios said, “She had the biggest, gentlest smile on her face.” After a student approached her and asked for a picture with “a protester,” the marcher gently objected to the term “protester.” Kezios explained the objections, saying “Her intention was to advocate for something positively, but he didn’t necessarily connate that with negatively resisting or protesting against something.”

On the whole, Dompke thought the march had “a lot more positive energy than the day before. The people were uniting for a common cause. Just the opportunity for them to come together as one group was great to see.”