RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Students at Sumner High School in Riverview studied past Presidents’ Inaugural addresses to prepare themselves for President Trump’s ceremony on Monday. Their teacher says it’s important for students to understand how our government works, and what goes into the inaugural address, so they’re prepared to judge and analyze it for themselves.

What You Need To Know

  •  President Donald Trump was inaugurated for the second time Monday

  •  A local high school teacher decided to prepare his students so they could compare the speech to others in the past

  •  Tony Pirotta selected seven speeches in history to study with his students

Tony Pirotta teaches twelfth grade U.S. Government at Sumner High School, and in the week leading up to Inauguration Day, he decided to focus on teaching what the students needed to know in order to analyze what happens.

“I picked seven presidents that we looked at their inaugural addresses and then we also looked at key elements that we see within presidential inaugural addresses,” he said.

Those key elements include setting the tone, unifying the nation, articulating policy goals, inspiring confidence, and addressing global impact.

Pirotta, who’s been teaching for 18 years, says he hopes to show students how much they can learn about the present day by studying the past. One example the class studied was President Thomas Jefferson’s Inauguration, which he won in a highly contested race.

“There were a lot of highly contested emotional feelings in our 2024 election. Well, history repeats itself, because a lot of people were really upset when Jefferson was first elected, particularly if they were from the federalist party,” said Pirotta.

Valerie Urena says by studying past presidents’ inaugural speeches, she had a better understanding of what to expect on Inauguration Day.

“It definitely showed me that I can have some faith in some change, and also to look out for what I will see on Monday, and seeing how things will change for our world,” she said.

That is Pirotta’s main goal for his students, giving them the tools to be able to analyze for themselves what they hear from presidents and other lawmakers.

“I was raised with a love for our country and I’m hoping I can pass that on to my students, and that they can also love the United States of America, but not blindly, through knowledge of things like the constitution and the bill of rights,” he said.