On Thursday, June 15, Sarah David’s Seventh grade class at Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School had a special Flag Day visitor: Congressman Leonard Lance.

David’s students had contacted Lance as part of their Project Citizen class assignment. Gaudineer student Megan Hogge sent the Lance a letter asking the Congressman about the issue of bullying. Lance thanked Hogge for her letter and talked about his involvement with bullying through the “it gets better” program.

During his visit, Lance told the students how his interest in American History led to his desire to enter public service. In response to a student’s inquiry about meeting Barack Obama, Lance drew a lay-out of the White House on the class whiteboard and told a story about his favorite decoration at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: a portrait of first lady Dolly Madison. That wasn’t his only display of his affinity for Americana: he also recited the names of the 50 states from memory.