Hoosier students study up for DC trip

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Hundreds of Indiana students will be among the several million people who will crowd into Washington D.C. to be part of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama. Some of the students come from two very different schools that have worked hard to provide their students with a lesson no textbook could ever provide.

Last fall, John Marshall Community High School freshmen couldn't believe their luck when rapper Ludacris helped make a huge announcement. Any ninth grader with a 3.0 grade point average or better that completed twenty hours of community service could go to the inauguration. Thirty eight of the students who met the criteria are headed to Washington.

The Lumina Foundation for Education is paying for a trip the kids know is special. The day after Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, they'll be in the crush of people at the National Mall hoping for a glimpse of the country's first African American president.

"It shows that anything can happen. I mean, Martin Luther King being such a prominent person in American history and now Barack Obama is the next person to do something like that," said Freshman Erica Mayberry.

None of the John Marshall kids going to the inauguration have been to D.C. before.

On the other hand, many kids at University High School have been to the nation's capitol. But the trip is no less special for them. Fifteen University students have been studying about the nation's capital during a special winter term.

"We are learning about how Washington D.C. really didn't almost happen because of financial problems during the revolution," said Sophomore Taylor Kenyon.

School leaders say they haven't seen kids this fired up about the political process since the 60s.

The student trips will average about four days, but provide a lifetime of memories.

If you can't make it to Washington for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, 24-Hour News 8 is inviting you to take part in the historic event. We're calling it "The Inauguration of Barack Obama: A Witness To History." You can see it at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and, on 24-Hour News 8, coverage begins at 10 a.m.

General admission tickets are free. They are available at the Conseco Fieldhouse box office.