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BOSTON - Three Attleboro High School students - senior Dara Beech and juniors Patrick Clark and Sabrina Sameja - were given the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Statehouse Inaugural Celebration.

The students, accompanied by AHS journalism teacher Adeline Bee, were covering the Jan. 7 inauguration for the AHS paper, The Eagle's Eye, and had their pictures taken with newly elected state Rep. Bill Bowles.

Salvatore F. DiMasi won as Speaker of the House by a landslide.

Out of 145 votes, he received 135, where his opponent, Rep. Bradley H. Jones Jr., received nine, and Rep. William G. Greene Jr. received one, his own.

During his victory speech, DiMasi said, "To the members of the 186th session of the General Court, I again say welcome. But I hope your sleeves roll way up. From freshmen serving their first day to veteran lawmakers who think they have seen it all before, these are unprecedented times and uncharted waters. None of us can say we have lived in times this challenging." The group met DiMasi in the speaker's office and had a picture taken. They also met many other elected representatives.

DiMasi also told the assemblage, "Where there is fear, we will show courage; where anxiety, we will show calm; where crisis, we will find opportunity. Get used to seeing each other; working in small groups and large ones."

The group found the trip to be a great experience. Clark said, "This was a very interesting field trip we went on. I got to go to a new place and saw a building important to the government of Mass. and how they elect a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was a very nice trip and if I had the chance I would go again."

Sameja said, "I have been interested in politics from the beginning of the presidential election, so when I was given this opportunity, I understood that I would never be presented with it again. Meeting elected representatives and listening to speeches gave me a new outlook on the importance of this Inauguration. Massachusetts has a long way ahead, but I am confident with the newly elected representatives in the Statehouse."

Beech said, "It was interesting to see what actually happens in situations like that, and to meet such influential people in person. It gives a new take on the proceedings and people -it's an entirely different experience than watching it on television.

"Opportunities like this are few and far between. This was not just a journalism field trip but crossed the curriculum with politics, history, and government. I believe the students will never forget the pomp and pageantry of an Inauguration, or their first introduction to real politics," said Bee.