Hail to the Chief   Martin VanBuren and and Rutherford B. Hayes.

Skinny-dipping, a parrot who knew naughty words, 80 pairs of pants, what do these have in common? Each one refers to a President of the United States of America. At the Evening of the Presidents, parents and family members learned a variety of interesting facts about all 43 Presidents, the three hopeful candidates, and the White House. This informative event was hosted by the students in Mrs. Tracie Best’s and Mrs. Sandy Neagle’s second and third multi-age classrooms at Lake Spokane Elementary School on Thursday, March 20th. Over a dozen learning activities were completed prior to the event.

As parents arrived, the hallways outside the classrooms were filled with projects for them to review. Drawings of bald eagles, the emblem for our country, greeted the guests and were completed as a complementary art activity. Learning activities in the hallways included a hand drawn picture of the White House with a report on a President, short reports on Washington and Lincoln with silhouettes to accompany them, several crossword puzzles and worksheets about the White House and its residents, Presidential profiles, and the Presidential Oath. In her Presidential Profile, a student wrote, “Coolidge spoke so little that he earned the nickname ‘Silent Cal.’ A woman sitting next to him at a White House dinner told the President she had made a bet that she could get him to say more than two words. Cal turned to her and said, ‘You lose.’”

Inside the classrooms guests learned more facts from mobiles, with four note cards; one side was on the student’s President, the other was on the White House. On the White House side of her mobile, one student reported, “The oval office, where the President of the United States works, has been called the most powerful office in the world. The office was added to the White House in 1909. Look for the Presidential Seal on the carpet.” Another student shared that Herbert Hoover “often spoke in Chinese to the First Lady when they didn’t want to be overheard,” on his President’s side of the mobile. Students also had written a letter to George W. Bush explaining the event and asking up to three questions. These were mailed to him after the evening.

Next, the Presidents of the United States were introduced one by one along with the three candidates. Each waved to the guests and when all were lined up, took the Oath of Office. Then, the crowd was able to meet individually with the Presidents. Mrs. Neagle and Mrs. Best supplied a questionnaire with fun facts for the guests to answer by interviewing each President.
John Quincy Adams liked to skinny-dip in the Potomac; Andrew Jackson had a pet parrot who knew naughty words and had to be removed during the President’s funeral for saying them; Martin VanBuren loved to dress in fine clothes; and Rutherford B. Hayes was the first person in the United States to have a Siamese kitten.

With this Evening of the Presidents, Mrs. Neagle and Mrs. Best organized an unforgettable evening. Dressing as the Presidents to be interviewed by guests allowed the students to share all that they had learned in a fun, creative manner. Each student took pride in answering questions and sharing favorite anecdotes about his/her President.