Inauguration Day 2021
On Inauguration Day 2021, MileStone Academy students witnessed history as the school paused to watch the inaugural ceremonies.
In English classes, we examined and reflected upon the 2021 inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb,” by Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Students did a beautiful job of expressing their thoughts about the poem and sharing how it made them feel. Some of their thoughtful insights are found below:
The poem made me feel powerful and great about myself because of the way she was reading the poem, and the things she said in her poem were amazing.
The poem made me feel happy, like stepping into freshwater.
I really loved the part when Amanda Gorman was talking about our future and how we are going to be okay and we are going to get through this.
The poem made me feel hopeful because your ancestry can have a history, but future generations can see better times.
I really liked the part where she went deep on loving each other no matter what race or culture you come from.
I really liked the part, ‘We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
I think the title stands out because it describes how poorly black people are treated in my opinion, and they have a hill to climb to get the equality they want.
This poem was memorable because she’s young and she did something most people in their 20s never thought of doing. She’s inspiring younger generations to be who they are.
The poem was memorable because of the way she was talking. She was young and confident.
I thought it was memorable that she read in such a way that has not been seen before. She did so much with her huge amount of confidence and willingness to have change, and her message was to unite all Americans.
This poem was memorable because the things she said in her poem are true, and we still have a long way to go in the future. I believe that there’s a kind of change we can make this year for the world to be better.