GULF SHORES, Ala. — As President Barack Obama took his oath and delivered his inaugural speech on Tuesday, students from Gulf Shores Middle School got a first hand experience.

Twelve students of Debbie Kenyon’s seventh and eighth grade social studies classes made the trek to Washington, D.C. to take part in the historic event.

“Back in the spring, during the primaries, it became a hunch that we would be having a historical presidential election,” Kenyon said. “It looked like a Democrat would more than likely be elected and the two top candidate were going to be Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”

Kenyon saw that history was in the making and began working on the trip in the fall.

The class watched as the race unfolded to see who they would witness being sworn in on Jan. 20.

“I knew it was going to be Barack Obama,” eighth grader Brooks Mason said. “And if a Democrat got elected it was going to be the first African-American or the first woman.”

“Either way it was going to be making history,” Alexis Rodrigue, another eight grader, said.

On Jan. 17 students hopped a plane departing from Mobile and headed to the nation’s capitol to watch the momentous inauguration transpire.

“We arrived in Washington at about 12 p.m. and the tour started then,” Kenyon said.

Mason, who was experiencing a bout of sleep deprivation at school on Thursday after returning late the evening before, said the days were full and sleep was minimal.

The group saw four Smithsonian museums, Mount Vernon, the Capitol Building and Arlington Cemetery among other American monuments.

On Inauguration Day the group headed out early to stake their claim amidst the millions who were fighting for front row.

“Inauguration Day was amazing,” Kenyon said. “It was very moving. It was hard to believe we were there.”

Standing half a mile away from the president in the Washington Mall, the students looked on as President Obama spoke words sure to go in the history books.

“It’s a story to tell my kids,” Rodrigue said.

“You could feel the electricity in the air,” Assistant Principal Joe Carpenter said. “People were there from all over, and it was basically the American melting pot mixed on the Washington Mall watching history.”

Carpenter, who chaperoned the trip, said the students were in awe of the inauguration.

“Just to be there for an inauguration, period, was historically important for them to see,” Carpenter said. “They were at the seat of the power of the United States at a peaceful transition moment.”