Long time coming, eh? Sorry about that, just beginning to figure out this whole blogging thing. I'm sure you've all heard this a million times, parents, but we couldn't have done this without you. Love you mom and dad! And a million thanks to Mr. Billingsley, Ms. Black, and Mr. Hernden (I hope that's how you spell your name...) because, yes, we couldn't have done this without you. Kudos to all the other students on the trip. Had a great time!

Final Blog pic post

One final pic from day 6. This is students in front of Senate side of capital II.

Final Billingsley Post

Here are the final pics from day six- John Lewis Office, Supreme Court, Mt. Vernon, students blogging

Catherine, Hunter, Anna and Eilis go to Washington

Right now we're missing the second dance to blog about our trip, but it's okay because we miss y'all and owe this too y'all. We've made good friends and are really enjoying ourselves. We've finally warmed up from the freezing cold inauguration day. Anna's feet are still recovering from walking around in heels at Mount Vernon. Hunter, Anna, and Catherine all managed to get a picture with Martha Washington right before our visit came to a close. Our bus driver Al knew everything there was to know about Washington D.C. and kept us informed all the way to Mount Vernon and back. We've really enjoyed everything that we've gotten to do and are very thankful for this AMAZING experience.

Jason, Dylan, Graham, Michael, Parker

On the close up trip we all enjoyed Barack Obama's inauguration on the 20th. We in particularly enjoyed the inauguration because the speech was amazing and we all liked the fact that Barack Obama was president because we all supported him in the electon. We also enjoyed seeing monuments because there was a special history behind each one and each story is very interesting.

Ellen, Mary Elizabeth & Eron

We had a great time this whole entire week. All the P.I.s [Program Instructors] were wonderful.
Besides learning a ton, we have had the time of our lives visiting the Lincoln Memorial, the F.D.R Memorial, and Mt. Vernon.
We have taken a million pictures and are excited to share them with everyone back in Decatur.
The inauguration was amazing. By far the most exciting thing we have taken part in so far. Well, besides the 20 degree weather and waking up at 3:00 am. But, hey, we DID get a pretty good spot.
Can't wait to see you all.

Close Up 2009- Grace Herndon, Jasmine Black, Sarah Black, Kamari Reid, Jessica Jones, Cecilia Kuehnel

Our trip to Washington DC has been so much fun! During the inauguration it was very cold and windy, but we kept warm by staying close together, and in the end, it all payed off. We also went to see Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. We visited the tomb of him and his wife and paid our respects. Overall the trip was a success and was tons of fun. We're all so grateful and thankful to Mr. B, our chaperones, and our parents for this wonderful experience and opportunity.

Close-up 2009 Tyler Hall

The whole Trip To Washington has been a great experience. The inauguration was by far my favorite thing we did this week. it was amazing to see our first black president get sworn into office. mount Vernon was very cool as well, I was very impressed by the tomb of George Washington

Cose Up 2009 Omari Grant_Joseph

I recently had a trip to Washington D.C. for the inuagaration of Barrack Obama and I have had alot of fun. My favorite places that i went to was Mount Vernon(the house of George Washington) & the Inaugoration of Barrack Obama there was a lot of peeople there and it was a once in a life time experience.

Close-up 2009 Alex Fowler

Avoiding all the cold air, miles of walking and early morning wake up calls close-up to me is a memorable experience that I will never forget. Other than the inauguration and dances here at our hotel the events that I have experienced have changed my life. Today in particular we went to Mount Vernon. This was a memory to me because I got to see one of the men who created our country and helped make it what it is. I now know that there were good men back then and that they set a precedent for what our presidents today should do. Close-up is a very great experience and I loved every part of it. Good luck to Barack Obama and God Bless America.

2009 Close-Up, Brett Polston

This experience for me has been something I will never forget. Waking up on Tuesday morning to see Barack Obama get sworn in and make his inaugural speech was truly something amazing. I'd like to thank everyone who made this trip possible and thank you everyone in the Close-Up staff.

day5 Gettysburg, Press Club

Mr. B answers questions at the National Press Club's press conference. Did you see it on CNN?
The question was, "Mr. B, is it true that you are the best looking teacher at DHS?" Answer- "Although there are several nice looking male teachers at DHS, it is true that I am the best looking." Sorry Mr. Hatfield











This is the teacher of Sarah Palin's daughter. Ms Black and I had dinner with her and fellow CU teachers from Alaska.
These are the world famous Capital Steps comedy group. Thats Bill Clinton, Hillary, and my man, Hussein!


















Mr. B at Little Round Top. No wonder the Yankees won the battle!

Vincent's D.C. pics and posts

This is Vincent Antinozzi from D.C.
A rare clean shot of our new president Barack Obama
Great shot of the capital.


Here's my roommate and he is cold. Cold yet excited. The day of the inauguration was a blast we got to know each other and i don't think i will ever get more huddled up with these Decatur kids ever again.

We are having a blast.

Look how close they were!

Do thse guys look sharp or what!

GQ to the max! Looking sharp!

Back at the hotel at 4:00 P.M. Not much time to to style but the girls are experts. My guess is that they received allot of attention at the Close Up ball this evening.

The inaugural ceremony was over at 12:45. When we arrived at the metro station, the wait was three hours. Mr. H suggested we go into the Air&Space museum for some academics. No Way! Once inside, most students crashed.

Sean had the best buttons at the inaugural. People were trying to buy this one.

Eron was like the rest of us, trying to stay warm. It was impossible.

We were in the dark from 4:00 to 7:00. It was good to see the sun rising.

INAUGURAL

Long day. From 2:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. So many things to deal with. Getting students up on time. Security and safety in D.C. during the inaugural. The cold- Man it was cold! Dealing with all the little details of being in charge of 33 students. No lunch, Little sleep. But we made it. If I had not had terrific students, this would have been a disaster from the get go. Outstanding students and parents. Great leadership from several of the older students who took over an important task when I was dealing with too many dramas or just plain exhaustion. For the students, I hope it was a day that will be remembered for the rest of their lives. For me, right now, I'm glad its over. But maybe, down the road a few years, I will remember the ending of Rick Warren's prayer, the strong words President Obama used when describing the threat of world terrorism, or the look in the eyes of a group of students, tired from a long day of fighting the cold, hunger, and the need to use the restroom (O.K., maybe not the most memorable event of this historic occasion). I think I will remember today as the day that I shared a historic event with thirty-three of my students. Its the kind of experience that students can talk about thirty, maybe forty years in the future and say, "I'm glad my parents and Mr. B. nagged me into going on that trip. What a time we had!"

its early!

Its 2:20 A.M. I can't see the keyboard. My teacher roommate thinks I'm crazy. But if we are to get a good viewing area for the inaugural today, we "gots to gp git er' done". The chaperons will start gently knocking on doors at 3:00 telling students to "Wake Up, You Fools!" On the metro at 4:00 to see the event of a lifetime, or at least until the next election. Seriously, say a silent prayer for all of us, including the president elect. He will need it. I will say also add a silent prayer of thanks to President Bush and all our brave troops that have kept us safe for the past seven years. God Bless the President, the President Elect, and Our Military, Police, and Fire Forces!

love in VA.

I sent this to parents Monday evening:
My niece, Kelly Billingsley ______ (new last name), who is 9 1/2 months pregnant, went to the goodwill store in wherever and bought four large blankets for us to use tomorrow. Nine plus months pregnant?! Now that’s some love!
Will email the entire final plan for tomorrow to parents. Not too many changes. Will stick with much of already agreed upon. 3:00 A.M. wake up knock on door. Have to be on the way out the door by 4:00.

U.N. speaker at Monday's lunch

I asked
the U.N. representative at lunch today, "The U.N. has had trouble dealing with individual dictatorships around the world. How will you deal with terrorist groups that are not part of any nation/state?" His answer: "The Obama administration administration
will try to find common ground with nations like Russia and China."
He added, "There are some situations that the U.N. may not be the best organization to solve the problem."

More breakfast pics

More breakfast pics

Students at brakfast this A.M.

"There stands Mr. B, teaching like a stone wall." (Taken on the spot where Thomas Jackson stood at Manasas.)
Come to think of it, thats how I've been teaching for the past 32 years!

day3

Just a quick note before lunch. The teachers returned from Manasas/Bull
Run battlefield. Great tour. Getting ready for teacher lunch and
lecture. Brenda Woods, from 11Alive called on my way back from Manasas.
She will try to get together with the students this afternoon for a live
feature as the students go around the war memorials and Lincoln memorial.
Hope this can happen. We will be leaving for the inaugural tomorrow
morning at 4:00 A.M. to try to get a good spot on the mall. 11Alive will
again try to meet us for live shots. Hope this happens.
Enjoy the pics. All students and chaperons should be sending info and
pics to the blog sites set up by Ms. Boswell.
Pic 1: "There stands Mr. B, teaching like a stone wall."
Pics2&3- Students at breakfast Monday A.M. They spent the day at the
war memorials.

Mr. B doing the "You make me want to shout" song.

Going to the concert

Mr. Glickman, President of the Motion Picture Association. The good looking guy on the right is trying to get into the movie business as the next James Bond.

Teacher Breakfast Sunday Morning. More than 350 teachers attended. Do you see Ms. Black in the middle?

Learned allot!

Returning from final Sunday class.

Very busy! Both students and teachers were going full speed without a
break all day. Students had classes and field trips to presidential
memorials this morning. Teachers went to breakfast and lecture. Teachers
heard from former congressman and Agriculture secretary and present head
of the Motion Picture Association, Dan Glickman. He did a great job
explaining the similarity between being a congressman, cabinet member and
president of Motion Picture Association (That why they pay him the big
bucks). He made the point that only in the U.S. can a sitting president
have a a critical movie made about his life. Later, I
asked him, "The motion picture business has a reputation for being
controlled by the so called, "liberal elites". Do you thing that conservative and
traditionally minded film producers, directors, and writers get a fair
shake in Hollywood or is it really all about the money, sex, and dishing
dirt on Republican presidents?". He surprised me with quite a long answer.
He said that the top ten percent of Hollywood people may be left-leaning
but "this has been true in the entertainment business for the last
2,000 years since Jesus Christ."
Wow!
After that, the chaperons split up. I went to the Smithsonian museum of
American History. Terrific! Saw the original John Bull train, Abraham
Lincoln's top hat, and best of all, the ruby slippers worn in the Wizard
of Oz. Chaperons met and went to the concert, thinking we would meet the
students. Students spent the afternoon at the concert. Most arrived back at
the hotel around 7:00, exhausted but talking about how exciting it was to
see PE Obama and hear stars like Beoncee and Bruce perform live (Who is
this Beoncee?) Students went to their 9:00 class. (I’m sure they are
thinking, “Class on Sunday night? What’s up with that!)
Students and teachers are encouraged to post comments and pictures on the
following sites: bulldog close up blog at blogger site, Twitter.com
(whatever that is!), DecaturEDtv, and both the Decaturmetro and Indecatur blog sites.
Enjoy the pics.

Tomorrow is another big day- Students have classes and go to the war
memorials, teachers go to a choice of several sites. I will check in with
all students during breakfast.

Arrived around 12:00 in Baltimore. Great Flight (It must have been all my prayers. Broke the "Separation of Church and State"
commandment big time!). The captain told us that it had warmed up, from minus 9 to minus 4 degrees! Since there was no wind, it didn't seem so bad. This pic is the crew on the bus to D.C. Mr. Herndon had just finished a great lecture on "How to Count Off Properly". The Crystal City Marirott is is a fabulous hotel. The students were a little disappointed that instead of having four DHS students per room, we have two and two students from another school. Most of the kids in our program are from Florida and California. Only one complaint so far, from two of our students that said they were having some "trust issues" with their roommates from Florida. I told them it would get better. Since dinner was served at 4:00, we decided to chill until we
ate. After a great meal, most of the students and I went to do some shopping at the Pentagon Shops. A few students remained at the hotel with the chaperons. The mall was crawling with Obama-maniacs- Shirts, Buttons, Jewelry. Everyone was wearing something about Obama. The prices were a little too high for our students.
I told them that we could find some bargains Friday morning before we
leave for the airport. Tonight the students are in their first workshop.
It took a while for all the students to find the correct location but they
finally made it. Hope all will blog something about the first day.
Tomorrow is a big day. Students and teachers have workshops in the
morning and in the afternoon, we will all go to the mall to the big
concert. I sure hope that Snoop Dogg shows up and sings, or whatever.

I will try to see all students tomorrow morning before I leave for teacher
field trips. After workshops, students will go to presidential memorial-
Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt. In the afternoon, we will go to the
concert together.
So far, so good.

Mr. Chris Billingsley
Decatur High School

first day

Arrived around 12:00 in Baltimore. Great Flight (It must have been all
my prayers. Broke the "Separation of Church and State"
commandment big time!). The captain told us that it had warmed up, from
minus 9 to minus 4 degrees! Since there was no wind, it didn't seem so
bad. The Crystal City Marirott is is a fabulous hotel. The students were
a little disappointed that instead of having four DHS students per room,
we have two and two students from another school. Most of the kids in our
program are from Florida and California. Only one complaint so far, from
two of our students that said they were having some "trust
issues" with their roommates from Florida. I told them it would get
better. Since dinner was served at 4:00, we decided to chill until we
ate. After a great meal, most of the students and I went to do some
shopping at the Pentagon Shops. A few students remained at the hotel with
the chaperons. The mall was crawling with Obama-maniacs- Shirts, Buttons,
Jewelry. Everyone was wearing something about Obama. The prices were a little too high for our students.
I told them that we could find some bargains Friday morning before we
leave for the airport. Tonight the students are in their first workshop.
It took a while for all the students to find the correct location but they
finally made it. Hope all will blog something about the first day.
Tomorrow is a big day. Students and teachers have workshops in the
morning and in the afternoon, we will all go to the mall to the big
concert. I sure hope that Snoop Dogg shows up and sings, or whatever.

I will try to see all students tomorrow morning before I leave for teacher
field trips. After workshops, students will go to presidential memorial-
Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt. In the afternoon, we will go to the
concert together.
So far, so good.

Mr. Chris Billingsley
Decatur High School

Love those digital cameras.

Waiting for the train. Kamari is telling everyone about how great the New York subway is.

As you can tell, there is no heat in the Baltimore airport.

Waiting to board the bus.

The girls in Baltimore.

Arrived around 12:00 in Baltimore. Great Flight (It must have been all
my prayers. Broke the "Separation of Church and State"
commandment big time!). The captain told us that it had warmed up, from
minus 9 to minus 4 degrees! Since there was no wind, it didn't seem so
bad. The Crystal City Marirott is is a fabulous hotel. The students were
a little disappointed that instead of having four DHS students per room,
we have two and two students from another school. Most of the kids in our
program are from Florida and California. Only one complaint so far, from
two of our students that said they were having some "trust
issues" with their roommates from Florida. I told them it would get
better. Since dinner was served at 4:00, we decided to chill until we
ate. After a great meal, most of the students and I went to do some
shopping at the Pentagon Shops. A few students remained at the hotel with
the chaperons. The mall was crawling with Obama-maniacs- Shirts, Buttons,
Jewelry. Everyone was wearing something about Obama. The prices were a little too high for our students.
I told them that we could find some bargains Friday morning before we
leave for the airport. Tonight the students are in their first workshop.
It took a while for all the students to find the correct location but they
finally made it. Hope all will blog something about the first day.
Tomorrow is a big day. Students and teachers have workshops in the
morning and in the afternoon, we will all go to the mall to the big
concert. I sure hope that Snoop Dogg shows up and sings, or whatever.

I will try to see all students tomorrow morning before I leave for teacher
field trips. After workshops, students will go to presidential memorial-
Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt. In the afternoon, we will go to the
concert together.
So far, so good. Sorry I can't attach any pics. Took quite a few. Will
try to get a tech pro to show how to send.

Mr. Chris Billingsley
Decatur High School

Inauguration 2009

Students and parents have worked hard over the past eight months pulling together funds, so students could go on this trip. It has been a pleasure to work with these students and parents and I'm looking forward to the trip. I will try to put daily updates on the blog. Students have been invited to post entries on this blog to keep family, friends, and community members involved in the experiences of the trip. Student may also send photos and video clips to Ms. Andrea Berry of Decatur eLife and Decatur EdTV. Please check all these places to stay informed.