St. Mary’s class watches inauguration

Cheryl Kasper’s fifth-grade class at St. Mary’s School in Owatonna watched President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris be sworn into office on Jan. 20.
Kasper said it was important for the kids to watch, because it provided a lesson of democracy in action in the United States.
“I think that's important for fifth graders to know about, and important as they move on and learn about the history of United States of America,” Kasper said.
This was not the first time that Kasper has shown an inauguration in her class, however, she said, this year she was a little nervous because of the recent political unrest.
“But I knew that there were precautions taken, and I knew that this would be safe for them to show,” said Kasper
She also said she knew that many of her students were going to have different emotions on the day itself, which brought up another lesson.
“As fifth-graders sometimes they are going to talk about the views they have from home, which is fine,” Kasper said. “I think it is okay to hear that and that we all have different views, but we need to respect each other, and it is okay that we don't always agree, but we have to be respectful in what we do.”
Another reason Kasper said she wanted her students to watch the inauguration was the fact that Harris was becoming the first African-American, first South Asian-American, and first woman to hold the position of vice president.
This, said Kasper, showed her students, that all things are possible and that they could someday hold these positions too.