COAL GROVE — Honors seniors at Dawson-Bryant High School have a special opportunity to go to places they have only read about in text books, but they need a little help from the community first.

The students are hosting the second annual Grove Yard 5K/Walk Oct. 29 to raise funds for their nine-day trip to France, Germany and the Alps next June. Honors students are those that have a 3.5 GPA or higher and scored a 27 on the ACT or 1210 on the SAT.

Intervention specialist Kimberly Ritchie is coordinating the trip and fundraising efforts. She said there are about six students who meet the requirements to go on the trip.

Ritchie said any opportunity to get the students out into the world could be a positive one.

“The experience these kids are going to get … I think it could really change their lives,” she said.

The educational tour of Europe will include visits to the Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, the Neuschwanstein Castle in the Apls and the Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany.

“I’m so excited to take them,” Ritchie said. “I’ve never been to Europe myself.”

The honors students have already had several fundraisers this year to raise the $3,200 trip fee, which includes all expenditures except lunches, and are planning others for the year. So far, the students have sold entertainment books and worked concessions stands as girls’ volleyball games and are planning to have car washes and a golf tournament in the spring, as well as selling Yankee Candles and Coal Grove T-shirts near Christmas.

The Grove Yard 5K biggest fundraiser so far this year, said Ritchie.

The run/walk will begin at 9 a.m. at the Dawson-Bryant High School football field and go through Woodland Cemetery. Registration begins at 8 a.m., but pre-registration is available at Tristateracer.com. The fee is $20 and strollers are allowed. The entry fee includes a T-shirt. Trophies will be awarded to the top male and female runners.

Ritchie said participants are encouraged to dress in Halloween costumes.