SPOKANE, Wash. — Garfield Elementary School P.E. teacher Donavon Hodgson wanted to give his students the opportunity to try skiing.
"Skiing is not a cheap activity to do," Hodgson said. "Coming from a low-income school, my kids don't ever get that opportunity, very rarely, to go. So, I wanted to share with them, what it is to ski. And then hopefully, sometime down the line, when they get older, that, 'Hey, I enjoyed that and I want to try it again.'"
So back in November, Hodgson organized a GoFundMe to help raise money to fund this dream. Hodgson said after a great donation from a friend and discounted rate from Mount Spokane, he was able to bring 54 5th graders to the mountain Wednesday.
"The kids are excited," Hodgson said. "We had one bus, we crammed on and they were just talk, talk, talk. So excited so it's gonna be great. Gonna be a great day."
For many of the students, Wednesday was their first time trying on a pair of skis.
"I haven't skied before but I'm excited to try," student Allison Reyes said.
But before students put on their skis, they had to learn how to walk in their boots.
"Weird," one student said.
"You can't like walk normally so you have to walk like a freaking penguin," another student said.
But, once students got past their awkward first steps, they were able to put on their skis and enjoy the ride.
"It was really really fun," one student exclaimed.
"It felt very smooth," another said. "I liked it."
Thanks to their teacher's efforts, kids were able to get a one hour lesson and ski for free all day. Even their coats, hats, gloves, goggles were taken care of.
Hodgson said he hopes this will be a highlight of their 5th grade year.
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