After the debacle that was the first-ever online Easter Egg Roll ticket giveaway, the White House is going old-school by handing out 2,000 tickets to D.C. students for this year's roll.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Plummer Elementary School in southeast Washington on Monday to tell students the news. He made the announcement in a third-grade classroom, where several students read him their essays on what they would do as president. Their suggestions included making sure the homeless have food and water.
Duncan, who was joined by Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, said this is the largest number of Easter Egg Roll tickets given out to local students in more than a century.
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 13, on the South Lawn of the White House, for children ages 10 and under. This year’s theme, “Let’s Go Play,” will focus on encouraging students and families to lead healthy and active lives.
Rhee said DCPS students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade will get to participate in the event.
And if you're wondering, there are still people on Craigslist trying to get tickets to the event, even though the tickets are non-transferable.
Rhee's office selected 20 schools, and principals will identify the students and coordinate chaperones.
The schools are:
- Plummer ES
- Cleveland ES
- Malcolm X ES
- Payne ES
- Key ES
- Emery EC
- Miner ES
- Ross ES
- Barnard ES
- Francis-Stevens EC
- Martin Luther King ES
- Turner at Green ES
- Brent ES
- Langdon EC
- Montgomery ES
- Truesdell ES
- Browne EC
- Ludlow-Taylor ES
- Noyes ES
- Webb-Wheatley ES
Also, student athletes from H.D. Woodson, Wilson and School Without Walls will volunteer to help manage the soccer and basketball stations.
