A Padre Island neighbor and Corpus Christi middle school teacher is combining his passion for basketball with his dedication to education. Daniel Thornton, a teacher and coach at Driscoll Middle School, is organizing a basketball tournament fundraiser to hopefully gather the funds to afford to take his students on a one-of-a-kind field trip to Washington D.C. He said he created the "Hoops for History" fundraiser to help students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to visit the nation's capital.
"It really came from the idea that when I first started working here, I wanted to get the students to Washington D.C, and I was unable to do so, just because it's financially a hardship," Thornton said.
The ambitious fundraiser, that's open to everyone in the community, aims to raise enough money to make the idea of this educational trip, a reality for his students.
"For the D.C. trip, it's gonna be expensive, like $50,000, probably is really the high-level goal. But $29,000, we could still send, you know, a number of kids to Washington D.C.," Thornton said.
Families of Thornton's students say the fundraiser makes a significant difference in their children's educational opportunities.
"Honestly, no. Just the way times are right now, you know, financially, it's kind of hard especially when you have larger families. So, this a really great opportunity for a lot of these students here," Christy Trevino, aunt of a Driscoll Middle School student said.
Trevino and other parents appreciate Thornton's dedication to his students.
"The kids are very lucky to have coach Thornton. He does a lot for the kids. He's a very involved teacher, always goes above and beyond, always has. I've known him for about nine years," Trevino said.
"We know a lot of people here in the community don't have that chance, and to have somebody as a blessing like Coach Thornton, to be able to put this on a raise money for these kids to attend this field trip, it's huge for this community," Lori Chavarria, the mother of a Driscoll Middle School student said.
Students like 7th grader Landon Cantu are hopeful the fundraiser will be successful.
"It would mean a lot to me. A lot of us kids here at Driscoll probably don't have another chance like this again to go somewhere like this, and it'll be a good experience for all of us," Cantu said.
Cantu recognizes his teacher's exceptional efforts.
"Mr. Thornton is definitely going above and beyond all of the other teachers here at Driscoll," Cantu said.
The Hoops for History fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, May 24, with different categories of the tounament happening at both Roy Miller High School and at Driscoll Middle School.To learn more about the fundraiser and to register, click here.
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