The historic choice of the first African American president will have an effect on the way history is taught in South End schools, teachers say.

History teachers on Whidbey have had many momentous events before to fold into their lesson plans; the Challenger shuttle explosion, the fall of the Berlin Wall and, of course, Sept. 11, 2001.

Even so, instructors say it will take time for students to really comprehend the historic nature of Barack Obama’s election to the presidency.

“Those memorable events had shock value, requiring us to provide a reassuring context,” Tom Kramer, a South Whidbey High School history teacher, said of the earlier events that captured the country’s attention.

“An election, even one as historic as this one was, is something we can absorb more slowly, since the kids have been studying the candidates and issues since September.”

Kramer, who teaches contemporary world problems to seniors, said now that Obama has won, the trick will be to teach the consequences of electing a black man to the presidency.

“How do we see ourselves now and how does the world view us, now that we’ve overcome 250 years of oppression toward a segment of the population?” Kramer explained. “Will there be a quantifiable change in the way black children see themselves, and has the color barrier been broken forever? That’s going to be the challenge for all history teachers.”

Across the hall, Mark Hodson said his junior western civilization students were on top of the election process from the first day of school.

“They are aware of the significance of what happened, but not fully cognizant of the historical ramifications yet,” Hodson said.

Hodson plans to use the election as a tool to broaden discussions about race, equality and the uniqueness of the American experience.

“When I talk about the Civil War, I’ll be interested to see how students react when we look at the reasons for the war,” he said. “Can a connection be established between emancipation in 1863, the events that happened during the civil rights era of the 1960s and what occurred during this year’s campaign and election?”

At Langley Middle School, Kent Ratekin, who teaches eighth-grade history, said the timing of Obama’s election couldn’t have been better. His classes are studying the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

“It was a good time to talk about the obvious inequality that was being ignored by our founders,” Ratekin said, noting that some of them, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were ratifying the words “all men are created equal” while they themselves held slaves.

“The comments from the kids preceding the election were that they didn’t like the slave situation,” Ratekin said, but he added that Obamba’s victory brings a kind of historic healing.

“It’s kind of like the ideals at the time were stronger than the people, and they’ve come to fruition over time,” said Ratekin, who has taught high school and middle school history for 18 years, 13 on South Whidbey.

He said his students were also impressed with the jubilation over Obama’s election around the world, expecially in Kenya, Obama’s ancestral home.

“It’s amazing,” Ratekin said. “It’s bringing unifying energy to other parts of the world.”

Ratekin said he’ll use Obama’s example in teaching upcoming chapters of history, especially the Civil War. And he’ll look to help his students reach out to the world through the Internet.

“All of a sudden the world got friendlier,” he said. “Overnight, people are looking to make a connection.”

Before Election Day, Hodson asked each of his classes to imagine they were old enough to vote, and describe for whom they voted and why. He was surprised that the reaction mirrored the election’s popular vote count.

“They went roughly 53 to 47 percent for Obama, but there were a number of strong cases put forward for McCain,” he said.

Those who supported Obama pointed to Gov. Sarah Palin’s inexperience as a key factor, while McCain boosters questioned Obama’s lack of leadership skills.

“How President Obama deals with future crises will be a subject of intense debate in my classes,” he said.

Kramer said his students watched the evening news shows that talked about voter demographics.

“The kids were surprised by the broad appeal that Obama got from folks across the economic, social, educational and racial spectrum,” Kramer said.

Kramer said there had been a shift in campaign talk from the war in Iraq and terrorism over the past six months. “Now, it’s all about the economy and which candidate or party is better able to confront the financial crisis,” he said.

Kramer noted that in his 35 years of teaching, one trend has become clear.

“Kids today are more tolerant of others’ views on race, religion and lifestyles. For them, tolerance and understanding is a more natural outlook than it is for older people,” he said.

Kramer added that his students were impressed with the tenor of Obama’s acceptance speech, which they found to be more sober and down-to-earth in style, content and delivery than they expected.

“Pretty serious stuff from someone who just won the presidency,” Kramer said. “Obama’s refusal to bash his opponents over the head was noted and admired.”

In the high school library, students recalled their feelings about the election.

Samantha Pope said despite Obama’s lead in the polls, she was holding her breath on Election Night.

“I know polls can be inaccurate, so when they announced he’d won, well, I was very excited,” she said. “My dad [Falcon girls basketball coach Henry Pope] said he never thought he’d see anything like this in his lifetime.”

Pope added that the Democratic victory made her feel she can look forward to the future with confidence.

“Some of the kids I know who voted believed that they really had a choice and a voice in this election,” she said. “Yeah, this is really a special time.”

Amanda Brager said Obama’s race meant nothing to her, but she expected more people to make a bigger deal out of it.

“Things have changed in this country, maybe for the better,” she said.

Victoria Comfort said the election will be a good thing for America.

“From what I’ve learned, he’ll be a better president, someone we can look up to who’ll do the right thing,” she said. “People’s expectations may be high, but he can do it.”

Henry Mead said he’s happy Obama won.

“I don’t think the country can take four more years of these conservative economic policies,” he said. “I was angry when the right-wing administration wanted to cut spending and become more isolationist, then do just the opposite. You know, I think there were a lot of liberal Republicans who voted for Obama, or not at all.”

Kramer said his students already sense the shift that has occurred.

“Not all of them express it, but they intuitively understand that there was an upheaval of sorts, a real shift in how the country goes about its business,” he said. “They pick up things faster and with more emotion than adults sometimes give them credit for.”

Reporter Roy Jacobson contributed to this story.