RUNGE, Texas -- The senior class at Runge High School is excited about a senior trip that they'll remember for years.

The class of 17 students and their chaperones will travel to Washington to witness the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama.

For many of the students, this will be their first trip away from home.

Paloma Reyes, one of the students who will make the trip, said that she never thought anything like this could happen to her. She was surprised and excited when she learned about the trip.

"So how would you want to go to Washington for your senior trip, because seniors usually go to San Antonio, but Washington?" Reyes said.

When history teacher Jeff Steele received information about the trip, he wondered if the district would be able to make it a reality.

"When I opened it up and was looking at the packet, logistically I was thinking, 'Can we do this?'" Steele said.

But after months of fundraising and the generosity of a Runge family and others, the class raised enough money. Runge senior Nathan Sturm is awestruck that he will witness the historical event.

"Not only in our lives, but that we get to see the inauguration of the first African-American president," Sturm said.

The students will spend three days in the nation's capital, where they will have a chance to do some sightseeing at historical landmarks, such as the Washington Monument, Capitol Hill and the Smithsonian.

But it's the history they'll be making for themselves that the Runge Class of 2009 will remember for a lifetime.