West Philly student sits with first lady

Just a few hours before he sat behind first lady Michelle Obama to watch the president's State of the Union address last night, Brandon Ford calmly finished his lunch and went to his hotel room to rest.

Afterward, he was interviewed by CNN and local radio stations.

Then he was whisked away to the White House to meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and top-level science and technology staffers in the East Wing to discuss policy matters and the state of the country. Well, not quite, but you catch the drift.

His day was unusual for someone his age (he's 18), or anyone else for that matter, but considering the heartache that the folks at the White House caused the teen last fall, after a mental slip on his part caused them to close the door in his face, he deserved the five-star treatment.

"I'm feeling great," he said. "It's a lot to deal with it. I'm still feeling discombobulated."

Ford was part of the West Philly Hybrid X team, which finished 21st out of more than 100 teams from around the world in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize contest. Their performance - a group of high-schoolers going up against trained professionals - was impressive enough to earn them a White House tour back in September.

One by one, three of his teammates went through the security checkpoint. When his turn came, Ford realized that he'd forgotten his school ID. Security wouldn't let him through to meet President Obama without it.

"I was pretty sad because I thought that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said. "I thought 'better luck next time.' "

The next time came in the form of a phone call by a young White House staffer this month who invited Ford to join Michelle Obama in the gallery for the president's speech last night.

This time, he made sure to bring his student ID.

Ford, wearing a red tie, pin-striped suit and blue shirt, sat behind Michelle Obama. He had a chance to chat with her in a reception before the speech.

After the speech, he shook President Obama's hand and took a picture with him, according to Ford's chaperone, Kelly Chapman.

Joining Ford in the first lady's box were Brandon and Julie Fisher, of Berlin, Pa.-based Center Rock Inc. Center Rock, in Somerset County, made drill bits and other equipment used to save 33 trapped miners last fall in Chile, and the couple spent five weeks there as the rescue shaft was drilled.

Obama said in his speech that Brandon Fisher designed the rescue that would come to be known as "Plan B," and that employees worked around the clock to manufacture the necessary drilling equipment. Fisher then went to Chile and worked with others to drill the 2,000-foot hole that reached the miners, he said.

"But," Obama said, "because he didn't want all of the attention, Brandon wasn't there when the miners emerged. He had already gone home, back to work on his next project."

The Associated Press contributed to this report