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AMERICAN FORK — Eighteen students, part of the student council at American Fork High School, are packing their bags so they can attend the presidential inauguration.
It is a big undertaking — all paid for by the students themselves — at a cost of about $3,000 per student.
As crews prepare our nation's Capitol Building for the inaugural ceremony, the high school students are also preparing, anxious with anticipation.
"I'm super excited, a little nervous, too,” said 10th grade student Bronson Horne. “We've had this planned out for a long time.”
The trip was planned last spring, before the candidates were even decided upon and well before President-elect Donald Trump won the election.
"He's our president and I support him,” said 11th grade student Jonah Armstrong. “If Hillary (Clinton) would have won, I would support her, too."
The students completed numerous fundraisers to pay for the trip, including going door-to-door and offering to scrub garbage cans.
"At the end, I just walked home, I couldn't get in anyone's car. It was that bad," Armstrong said.
Of all the schools attending from across the country, American Fork High School has one of the largest groups.
"Our school's never done anything like this before," said American Fork High School student body president Madison Flinders.
They won't be the only Utahns at the event. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform at the swearing-in ceremony.
“It made me feel so happy and almost at home," Flinders said about having the choir at the inauguration.
Above all, the trip is a civics lesson, watching the peaceful transition from one presidency to the next.
“I feel honestly very privileged that we, out of all the people in Utah, are able to go and witness and represent Utah," Flinders said.
The students will be in for a good show. Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee has raised a record $90 million dollars.
The students fly out Sunday morning. Their first stop will be New York City before heading to Washington, D.C.
Contributing: Xoel Cardenas