A group of Handsworth secondary students got a crash course in American democracy Tuesday night – and a refresher on what it means to be Canadian.

A class of Grade 12 civics students bussed down to Whatcom County, Washington, to observe the U.S. election. It’s a tradition the school has had spanning the elections of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton (twice), George W. Bush (twice) and Barack Obama (twice).

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The teens met with the county auditor who tabulates the votes and spoke with officials from both parties at their local campaign headquarters before settling in to watch the results role in with local Democrats.

“That was a very somber, sad place,” principal Dave Overgaard said with a laugh.

The teens, despite most of them budding political wonks already, were there to learn, rather to cheerlead, teacher Fernando Torres said.

“We recognized the volatile nature of this particular campaign. For us, it was very important to be ambassadors. We were there to observe. We weren’t there to impart our opinions on the American electoral system or their campaign,” he said.

Still, the students couldn’t help but have their own opinions and expectations. Perhaps a life lesson as much as an academic one, they learned about the bitterness of political defeat.

“I had always thought (Hillary Clinton) had it in the bag. I’m so appalled, I find it hard to believe,” said Aliya Hemani, adding she was still “going through the stages of grief.”

“For me especially, it’s very, very sad to see such a sexist, racist man – that people would rather him be the leader of their country than a woman who is, in my opinion, far more qualified, more experienced. I think it’s a very sad day to be a woman.”

For some, it was something of a surreal experience putting human faces on folks whose political opinions fall so, so far from their own,

“It was like seeing the tooth fairy,” said Eva Wardell, upon seeing a man dressed in his Make America Great Again shirt. “I’d never seen a real person behind him or thought of people actually believing in him.”

Wardell too, however, attributed Donald Trump’s win to harnessing the previously latent sexism and racism in America.

“I don’t think anybody thought this was going to be a reality and now it is. I think that’s kind of scary to be honest,” she said. “There are problems within the nation that aren’t caused by immigrants or minorities or women.”

And even though the students’ responses to Trump and his campaign ranged from bafflement to disgust, meeting with his supporters was instructive, said Oliver Ng.

“From their point of view, I think we can see why. They were sick of the establishment, right?” he said.

They also came back with a greater appreciation of our Westminster style democracy and the flavour of our political campaigns, Ng added.

“We have more choice in Canada than there is in the United States. We focus more on actual issues in Canada instead of just attacking other candidates’ histories. We get down to things that can really affect Canadians,” he said.

On the bus ride home, Overgaard helped put America’s shift to the political right into context, a trend that’s been cropping up in Europe in recent years as well with Brexit and nationalist parties rising in European Union countries.

As they cleared customs and crossed the border back home, the students and teachers broke into a spontaneous rendition of “O Canada.”

“Honestly, I’ve never been so happy to be a Canadian,” Wardell said.