Alaska Dispatch presents a special event to share experiences of growing up and living in rural Alaska, all captured in a unique documentary to be screened at Bear Tooth Theater in Anchorage.

The event aims to raise money for students of Gusty Michael School in the village of Stony River, Alaska, to fund their school trip to Washington, D.C., later this year. In attendance at the screening will be several of the students from the rural school, their teacher, and the filmmaker.

LEARN MORE: Rural Alaska dreams: From Stony River to Washington, D.C.

(Original story 2/21/12) A batch of soft-spoken village kids who became southern California celebrities during a mega field trip last year are racing to raise money for their next big excursion to the nation's capitol.

The Gusty Michael School in Stony River faces a possible shutdown due to a lack of enrollment, and Debi Rubera wants to make sure her students get one last chance to see the world as long as she's their teacher.

The school's seven students have applied for White House clearance in hopes of meeting President Obama. They've launched a Facebook page to generate support. And they're once again raising funds at the general merchandise store they created in their village of some 40 residents.

Ranging in age from 4 to 14, the Alaska Native kids will be joined by chaperones such as Rubera and the handful of student travelers who went last year but have graduated or moved to bigger villages.

Santa Barbara filmmaker intrigued

Stony River, situated on an island deep up the Kuskokwim River some 250 miles west of Anchorage, is so isolated and quiet the students often speak in whispers. Once a trading post serving miners, its population has dwindled as elders die and the young move on.

Last year's 10-day trip spawned national interest after the students sought donations with letters to media outlets and corporations. Having never left Southwest Alaska, some of the kids hadn't seen street lights, sports cars and escalators -- let alone museums, colleges and theme parks. The feel-good story felt even better when residents and business in southern California, including the 1,000-acre Restoration Oaks Ranch, pitched in free lodging, meals and tickets.

Michael Warner, a filmmaker from Santa Barbara, latched onto the story and captured the kids' journey starting in Stony River -- just getting to Anchorage required $6,000 and three charter flights in a small plane. He produced short, powerful documentaries about the trip -- including “Leaving Alaska,” which recently won positive reviews at the Santa Barbara film festival. He was moved watching the Alaska kids experience a world they'd only seen on TV and through the Internet, he said, and hopes to create a foundation to fund similar learning trips for other isolated schools.