TRAVERSE CITY -- From college classrooms to high school hallways, students watched as the country's president took oath today.

Students at Traverse City West Senior High listened to the president present his inaugural address for their civics lesson.

It's not everyday in your government class that you get to watch the president of the United States take office...but that was Tuesday's lesson for students at Traverse City West.

"It was big like I remember seeing inaugurations before but they hadn't been quite as grand," says 11th grader John Adams.

"These are tough times and people wanted to see a promising new leader sworn into office, we have a new start," says 11th grader Dan Cholger.
    
The students watched intently during the historic ceremony and even took notes.  Afterwards, they held a question and answer session about their new leader.

"I think it's a good thing to talk about him because in order for us to be able to do anything, it's about communication and even though we may disagree on a couple of things, it helps us personally and as a group," says 10th grader Kelsey Chase.

"I think it's important to see and understand the peaceful shift of power within a country.  I think a lot of places don't have the opportunity to have that and see that in action," says civics teacher, Aimee Cole.

Some students say the president's inaugural speech gave them confidence for the country's future, but they say change might not happen overnight.

"There's a lot of things going on right now.  The economy's huge and then the war in Iraq that a lot of people don't approve....I think we'll start to see these things change but there's so much to do, I don't know if it will happen quickly," says Adams.

"It's us starting to put our foot in the door to be able to start doing what we need to do," says Chase.

The students say that change starts with American citizens maybe even right in the classroom.