By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-815841.mp3
Dallas, TX – 46 Lake Highlands High School Juniors and Seniors are about to see their history and civics text books come alive. They're headed to Washington DC this weekend for the Inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday. KERA's BJ Austin says the Lake Highlands Wranglers dance-team will ALSO perform at the famous Texas Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball.
It's taken a lot of blood, sweat, and boot-scootin to get ready to perform for some 11 thousand people at the Texas State Society's Black Tie & Boots Ball. At a rehearsal in the school's gym, the 46 dancers work to master the finer points of couples-dancing in Cowboy boots, as well as rigorous lifts and power flips.
The Wranglers have performed at the Texas Inaugural Ball before: for Presidents Bill Clinton, George H-B Bush , and George W. Bush. Lake Highlands teacher Cheyney Larkin chaperoned that last trip, and says these students have been concentrating on their feet and are just now trying to wrap their heads around the enormity of the experience awaiting them.
Larkin: There's gonna be so many people there, and the energy of it all. I don't think anybody will ever question that we just witnessed history; because it is, and they know it. And they will definitely be appreciating that for years to come.
The trip costs 15 hundred dollars each. Wrangler boosters organized a silent auction and students held fundraisers to help defray the per-student cost. Parents and teachers are chaperoning. At the Black Tie & Boots ball the Wranglers will share the stage with Country Music stars Neal McCoy, Tracy Byrd, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Asleep at the Wheel. The Wranglers, along with the Kilgore Rangerettes, are the only non-show-biz professionals invited to perform. Wranglers' Captain Katie Smith says this is BIG, and the pressure's on to deliver.
Smith: I think Texas always plays a part in everything in a big way. We do everything big. I just think that we gotta represent everyone. I hope we can represent well.
Dancer Allie Murphy, is a Senior and first-time-voter in the November Presidential election. She's throwing her heart into rehearsals.
I am really excited, and really proud that the first election I got to vote in was such a momentous election. And I get to take part in such a really important and historical inauguration. I'm just really excited I got to participate in the whole process. We're really lucky we got tickets. I heard there are going to be one to three million people there and tickets are really hard to get.
Her Wrangler teammates agree:
Not many people get to go actually go to the inauguration, especially this year. You know it's a new change; just a lot of new stuff happening in our world today, and it's pretty neat./Just to see the first Black President, to be a part of that because it's just a huge part of history that we're going to get to witness. I think it will be emotional for some people - whoever's all into the government and stuff. But, I'm just going to have a good time./I'm not really into politics, either. So, I'm just there for the experience.
Parent and chaperon Janna Gardner says whether it's partying or politics driving the experience, being part of this Inauguration will be electrifying for these teenagers.
Gardner: They all understand, that no matter what political aspirations that they're families come from or that they believe; whether they're Republican, Independent or Democrat -- they understand that there's change in the air. And there's a great sense of anticipation to see what the new Administration will bring to that.
Senior Kent McCoy sums it up.
McCoy: We're going to see something that's going to be read about in history books for a long time.