NORTHGLENN — Michelle Pearson has touched history. Now, she and her students are going to watch it being made and make a bit of it themselves.

Pearson and 40 students from Hulstrom Options K-8 will be in Washington, D.C., next Tuesday for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th president.

Like the thousands of other students who are streaming to Washington for the inauguration, they want to be part of history. But in a lot of ways, Pearson’s students have a head start.

They already are experienced historians, having helped set up the Veterans Museum in Broomfield.

“They have boxes and boxes of archives that have never been digitalized,” Pearson said. “Kids, who are more tech savvy, are helping with that.”

There’s plenty more. Pearson and her students are helping to preserve landmarks around the state. They’re working at two inner-city Denver Catholic churches — Sacred Heart and Annunciation.

“They don’t have the money to pay for architects or outside people to do it,” Pearson said. “The kids provide the manpower under the supervision of myself and the Library of Congress,” which has guidelines on how to do it.

Pearson gushes about history and her love of it. In a way, that’s quite surprising, considering she wasn’t a fan early on.

But her mother, Lina Howe, was a native of New Zealand who became a U.S. citizen.

She said, “I want to give back to my country. I’m going to volunteer,” Pearson recalled.

So she began volunteering at the Smithsonian.

“My mother forced me — as a middle schooler — she forced me to volunteer at the Smithsonian,” Pearson said.

“You mean I have to give up my Saturday and volunteer?’ Pearson asked her mom.

“Yes, you are,” was the response.

Pearson quit pouting soon after and came to love the Smithsonian.

“I was standing in the archives, holding the first Teddy bear,” she said. “I saw Lincoln’s top hat. I saw Cleveland’s overcoat. I held glass negatives. I was touching history.”

Pearson does for her students what her mom did for her. She not only introduces them to history, but lets them touch it.

“I just love bringing kids and history together in hands-on format,” she said. “I’ve had kids come to me who hated history. Some are now doing high school projects on preservation. They tell me, ‘I hated it. You made it come alive for me.’ If you can spark that interest, you’ve succeeded as a teacher. And if you can make them self-learners, that makes a difference.”