enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Portland High School senior Bijou Ange Umuhoza, second from left, cheers as she and a group of Portland High students and faculty watch the inauguration of Barack Obama on widescreen TV.

PORTLAND -- Students and teachers at Portland High School celebrated the inauguration of President Barack Obama with cheers and applause today.

It was a mid-term test day at Maine's most diverse high school in the state's largest city, so most students left the building after 11:15 a.m.

But about 100 students and a few teachers stayed behind to watch the noontime inauguration ceremony in a lecture hall outfitted with a wide-screen television.

"I wanted to stay and watch it with everybody," said Nyamouch Lia, a senior who was born in Sudan. "I wanted to see how everybody would feel about the first black man becoming president."

Portland High School has students from around the globe who speak about 50 different languages. The viewing was organized by the school's International Club.