enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Bijou Umuhoza, second from left, a Portland High School senior, applauds President Barack Obama’s inauguration at the school Tuesday. She said Obama’s call to action has inspired her.

Bijou Umuhoza wiped away tears and rubbed her hands together excitedly as she waited to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama on television Tuesday.

Umuhoza is a senior at Portland High, the most diverse high school in Maine, located in the state's largest city. She came to the United States as a refugee from war-torn Rwanda, where her father, a businessman, was killed for helping innocent people escape imprisonment, torture and death.

As Obama finished saying the oath of office, Umuhoza joined fellow students in cheering and applauding the historic event. But her tears kept falling, through his inauguration speech and after the final prayer, when she shared her thoughts on a remarkable accomplishment.

"No way in my life did I think we would have an African-American president," Umuhoza said. "The dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had just came true. It makes me want to work hard and make my own dreams come true."

Obama's inaugural message of hope, unity and personal responsibility rang true with the teenagers at Portland High School, which has students from around the globe who speak about 50 different languages.

Tuesday was a midterm test day, so most students left the building after 11:15 a.m. About 100 of the school's 970 students and a few teachers stayed behind to watch the noontime ceremony in a lecture hall outfitted with a wide-screen TV.

The International Club organized the special viewing so students could share the experience rather than watch it at home alone.

"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."

Before the ceremony started, C-SPAN showed a clip of outgoing President George W. Bush arriving at the Capitol building. Many students booed loudly.

"They don't like his policies and what has happened during his presidency," said Corey Carmichael, a junior. "A majority (of the student body) is anti-war."

Later, when Obama thanked Bush for his service to our nation, many students and teachers applauded.

Some students have high expectations of their new leader. "America needs a change, and Obama is the president who can make this country better," said Jessica Theav, a sophomore.

Other students are hopeful but cautious. "He's just trying to tell us the truth," said Justin Banner, a junior. "It's not going to happen immediately."

Teachers and other staff members are cautiously optimistic, too.

"The performance has been so low and so bad for so long, people are ready for change," said Donald West, an educational technician, between bites of a peanut butter sandwich. "But it's going to be tough. Obama is really going to have to educate the population. He's going to have to talk them through it like (Franklin D.) Roosevelt did."

During the swearing-in ceremony, Principal Mike Johnson stood with his arm around the shoulders of his son Corey, who is a senior at Portland High School. Johnson, who is white, has two adopted black sons, Corey and Michael, who is a sophomore at the University of Southern Maine.

"I wanted to share that experience with Corey," Johnson said. "On the night of Obama's election, I saw a look on my sons' faces that I'd never seen before. I'm not sure what it was, but to me, it said, 'I'm going to be OK. As a black man living in the United States, I'm going to be OK.' "

Bijou Umuhoza knows that she's going to be OK, too. She said she plans to go to law school and become a judge so she can work to protect human rights. She said she has been inspired by Obama's call to action.

"He is right when he says we are all the same people," Umuhoza said. "We all have the same blood."

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com