With Barack Obama officially in office, it's time for the children at Garden of Hope Montessori School in White Bear Lake to add another name to their song about the presidents.

Teacher Patty Brecount has long taught her students, ages 3-6, a song each year that lists the presidents in order. It takes most of the year for them to get it memorized, but by "graduation" in spring, it makes for  an impressive presentation for parents and friends.

I first heard the song years ago, when Miss Patty taught our boys at another Montessori school. Clinton was president then.

When George W. Bush was elected in 2000, I was tapped to write a new ending. And now with Obama, it needed yet another final verse.

(One side benefit, I now can name all the presidents in order, but first I have to sing through the list.)

The tune is kind of a chant. When the Garden of Hope kids finish learning it this year, I'll try to post a video.

THE NEW 2009 VERSION: 

Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison;
Monroe, Quincy Adams, Jackson and Van Buren.

Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor;
Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan and Lincoln.

Andrew Johnson, Grant, Hayes and Garfield;
Arthur, Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley.

Roosevelt, Taft; Wilson and Harding;
Coolidge, Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman.

Eisenhower; Kennedy; Johnson
Richard Nixon, Ford and Carter

Ronald Reagan, Bush, George H.W.
William Clinton then Bush, George W.

The election in '08 was filled with hope and drama,
Our 44th President is now Barack Obama.

It's very historic; the new White House resident
Is our nation's very first black president.


Clinton-era
The first version I'd heard when my kids went there ended with:

... Eisenhower, Kennedy; Johnson and Nixon
Ford and Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

In 1992, we elected another,
His name was Clinton, spouse of Hillary.

Bush
My first addition, after the 2000 election, added this ending:

… Eisenhower, Kennedy; Johnson and Nixon
Ford and Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton.

The election in 2000 will go down in history;
The recount in Florida made it quite a mystery.

The Supreme Court finally ruled for  George W.
So now Bush is president, hope that doesn't trouble you.