Ita will again take students to DC

The AP Government class at Havre High School always offers students a more in-depth view of the government, but next month it will give some of the students a front-row, in-person look.

At Tuesday night's Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting, the board voted to allow John Ita, the AP Government teacher, to take 18 people to Washington, D.C., for President Barack Obama's inauguration Jan. 21.

Ita said the group — which will include four parents and 14 students, including two recent graduates — would be traveling down the day before the Sunday ceremony and will miss the following Monday and Tuesday of school, which he asked be excused absences. The board agreed.

When Ita took a group four years ago, only eight people were able to go.

The board was excited to be able to say yes to this year's trip.

"I just think this is a great idea, " Trustee Curtis Smeby said. "I just wish everyone could go. "

"No kidding, " Ita said. "It was a life-changer for my daughter four years ago. She didn't like history. Now she does. "