LIVERMORE FALLS – Fourteen high school students and two teachers will see history being made when they attend the U.S. presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009.

SAD 36 school directors approved the trip to Washington D.C., on Thursday night, Vice Chairman Fred Nadeau said Friday.

“I’m really excited,” teacher Michelle Merrill Brann said of the trip Monday.

The 14 students participating are in the civics economics honor class and Brann and history teacher Susan St. Pierre will be the chaperons for the self-paid, four-day and three-night trip organized by EF Tours, an education-related tour company, and in conjunction with the Smithsonian museums.

SAD 36 is providing bus transportation to and from the airport.

Brann said she had spoken with her honors world history students last year, and they talked about going to the inauguration. Those students are now taking civics.

They plan to tour the city in addition to watching the actual inauguration, Merrill said.

The group will tour the Smithsonian’s museums and get a look at past presidents at the National Portrait Gallery and the artifacts of democracy at the National Museum of American History.

There will also be guided sightseeing of D.C., the Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House.

On the third day of the trip they’ll attend the presidential inauguration, which will include the oath of office, the inaugural address, and the inaugural parade. They’ll also have a chance to participate in an inaugural ball modeled after the official one.

During their last day in Washington, students and teachers will see the Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court, Library of Congress and the National Archives before returning to Maine.