AWAITING A JOURNEY LIKE NO OTHER; VAUGHN SETS SIGHTS ON D.C.; STUDENTS WILL BRING HOME AWARD.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

For months, the students at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center have been saving for the trip of their lives: a ride on a jet plane to Washington, D.C., where they will pick up one of the most prestigious academic honors in the country.

For many, it will be their first trip outside of Los Angeles. For most, it will be their first visit to the nation's capital. To afford this adventure, they've pleaded for donations from people, corporations and just about anyone who would listen.

Even Principal Yvonne Chan has pitched in, donating $22,000 from an education award she won last year for her work at the campus, which has drawn accolades from the statehouse to the White House and earned status as a California Distinguished School.

Now 150 students, parents and teachers are preparing to leave next month to receive the national Blue Ribbon, the only Los Angeles school to win one.

``This is a symbol of capturing the American dream,'' Chan said. ``It's the fact that we made it out of the barrio. And not just a little bit out of it - but all the way out of it.''

White House or bust 

The $44,000 journey is being financed through individual and corporate donations, as well as discounts from the hotel and airlines. Northwest Airlines slashed its round trip fare from $371 a person to $268 a person for the group.

And Chan contributed $22,000 of the $25,000 Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize she received last year for her educational, cost-saving and fund-raising efforts.

The students still are just $2,000 shy of their goal, a gap that Chan said won't scuttle the trip and might be closed with more donations.

Next month, the group will fly aboard two jets from Los Angeles International Airport to National Airport in Washington, D.C., where two chartered buses will be waiting to whisk the weary travelers to their hotel.

Their plan: to attend a two-day awards ceremony and tour Capitol Hill. Their hope: to meet President Clinton, who may attend the event.

``I'm going to tell him about our teachers,'' said Gabriel Ramirez, 10, who was selected by Chan to represent his classmates should the group get a chance to meet Clinton.

``I'm going to tell him that we have a science teacher, a computer teacher, a librarian and a PE teacher,'' Gabriel said, pausing to add, ``And a great principal.''

Created seven years ago, the Blue Ribbon is issued by the U.S. Department of Education to public and private schools that demonstrate commitment to student achievement and strong leadership. Schools also must show support for high-quality teaching and overall improvement in the past five years.

This year, Vaughn was one of 263 elementary and middle schools to win a Blue Ribbon and the only campus from the Los Angeles Unified School District to do so. Statewide, 35 elementary schools won national Blue Ribbons.

It is the school's go-get-'em attitude that helped it win a Blue Ribbon.

Schools who win the award ``have great student focus, a challenging curriculum and they're very much involved with their communities,'' said Stephen O'Brien, a team leader with the Blue Ribbon Schools program in Washington, D.C.

The coming trip has generated a new sense of excitement on the already buzzing Pacoima campus. Teachers have a renewed zeal for American history and students sit up straighter whenever talk turns to national politics.

On Wednesday, the school held an orientation for about 30 students selected by their teachers and peers to go on the trip.

``I've seen Bill Clinton on TV,'' observed Ray Lau, a 7-year-old speck of a boy who is going on the trip. ``I want to ask him what kind of food does he eat.''

Randy Diaz, 10, who has never been outside Pacoima and has never flown before, can only imagine what the world will look like from 40,000 feet up.

``I'll see all the houses from high up in the sky,'' the fifth-grader said. ``I'm nervous.''

And Amanda Caudillo, 8, wants more details on the White House - something she's only seen on TV.

``I bet it's big,'' she said, her eyes growing wide behind her glasses.

Parents abuzz

The excitement has even touched a nerve among the normally reserved adults.

On Friday, campus officials held a schoolwide assembly and conducted an orientation for parents going on the trip. Faces frowning, parents poured over Metrorail maps of Washington, D.C., picking out the White House, Capitol Hill and Arlington National Cemetery.

``I'm still lost,'' wailed Gabriela Pelayo as she tried to make sense of the unfamiliar streets and neighborhoods with exotic place names such as Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle and Georgetown.

Marco Seleya, the school's dean of students who will represent his fellow teachers, isn't sure how long he can withstand the excitement.

``If I have to wait too long, I don't think I'll make it,'' he said, only half-jokingly.

And Frances Johnson, whose three children attended Vaughn and who now is shepherding her 10-year-old grandson through the school, said the trip has galvanized the campus unlike any other event.

``It's really made this school proud,'' said Johnson, the official parent representative who is accompanying her grandson on the trip. ``We're trying to achieve the goal of children learning. To be on top and to succeed in life. We're giving them a stepping stone in that direction.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Vaughn Next Century Learning Center Principal Yvonne Chan talks to kids chosen for a trip to Washington, D.C., to get the national Blue Ribbon award.

(2) Vaughn Next Century Learning Center pupil Gabriel Ramirez, 10, hopes to meet President Clinton in Washington.

(3) ``It's made this school really proud.''

- Frances Johnson, Grandparent of pupil

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News