ALEXANDRIA For a brief moment Sunday night, Bailey Griffin had the full attention of U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va.

The senator was wrapping up a pre-57th presidential inauguration meet-and-greet with Cosby High School students — “It’s a tradition now,” Warner said, noting he’d done the same thing four years ago — and stopped for a final question.

Bailey, a Cosby freshman, didn’t hesitate, asking Warner a question about national security.

“It’s important to me because my father is a full-time member of the Virginia National Guard,” she said in a lobby of the George Washington Masonic Memorial here, where the Cosby kids were being treated to a presidential-style gala.

The chance at making her own history may have been new to Bailey, but it’s old hat to Anne Canipe. The Cosby history teacher is leading a group to the inauguration for the ninth straight time.

This year’s group of 35 students, teachers and parents worked in a day of volunteer service at the National Armory, a tour of a wax museum and the night at the Masonic Memorial. Today, the group is staking out a spot on Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the inaugural parade.

“She’s our gold key,” Cosby Assistant Principal Sid Ames said of Canipe. “When she wants something, it gets done.”

Tanya Hughes Jones found that out early this school year.

“She was talking about it on the first parent-teacher night,” said Jones, the mother of freshman Jocelyn Jones. “We didn’t hesitate to sign up. Four years ago, I took Jocelyn and my son, Jalon.

“You can’t miss the chance to be part of a historic moment.”

That chance may have hit home the most with the last person to join the group, senior Reagan Chancellor.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” she said. “I worked to raise my money, but I got it done. And I’m glad I did.

“Last year was the first time I could vote, and I voted for Obama. I just wanted the chance to see him inaugurated.”

She also got the chance to see a candid Warner, who tackled a wide range of subjects in a brief amount of time.

He said his views on legalized marijuana and gun laws have changed through the years, but his passion for politics has not.

He urged the students to participate however they could.

“It doesn’t matter which side you support,” he said. “You need to recognize that neither party has a monopoly on truth or patriotism.”