There is no questioning the sacrifices teachers make day in, day out for students: the long hours of grading papers, the afterschool tutoring, serving as coaches, mentors, advisors. The list goes on and on.

However, even the most zealous of staff members would probably agree two First Colonial High School teachers took their devotion to their students to new heights this past weekend.

Specifically, they took it to about 14,500 feet.

First Colonial Legal Studies Academy student Gabe Tucker had been working on his senior project, which focused on the state of veteran affairs in the country. To complete the service component of his project, Tucker knew he wanted to aid the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides support for injured veterans returning from combat. He also knew he wanted something to make his project stand out.

His idea? Have teachers jump out of a plane and use the skydive as a school fundraiser.

“Most kids will teach a class or do a donation drive at school,” Tucker said. “I knew I wanted to something that was unique and I don’t know what’s more unique than this.”

Tucker reached out to the staff at Skydive Suffolk, and found the business has a special tie to the Wounded Warrior movement. One of their staff members was married to a Wounded Warrior, and he agreed to speak to students and staff that attended the skydive about his experiences.

Now, it was about getting some teachers on board.

Enter Larry Spruill and John Sutton, history teachers at First Colonial.

Both former Marines, the two needed little convincing to take part in the jump.

“I really didn’t have a choice about participating,” Sutton said. “Gabe came to me his freshman year and let me know that this was his project idea…I literally agreed to do this four years ago. He held me to my word and we brought Larry aboard.”

Incidentally, Spruill was an easy sell.

“(It was) a student request and a worthy cause – as both a teacher and former Marine, how could I say no?” Spruill added.

Also brought into the jump was David Shoemake, whose wife, Leslie, teaches at First Colonial with Spruill and Sutton. Upon hearing there was an open spot, David volunteered to help the cause.

As part of the skydive, the three volunteers were taken approximately 14,500 feet in the air. From there, they, along with their tandem instructor, would jump out of the plane and go roughly  120 miles per hour during the minute-long freefall before the parachute is pulled for a four-five minute glide back down to earth.

Both Spruill and Sutton described the jump as an incredible experience, though Spruill did point out the worst part is the flight up.

“There were a lot of conflicted emotions during that plane ride,” he quipped.

Through his work, Tucker had raised almost $1,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project by the time of the jump.

While that is impressive, Tucker said the coolest part of this experience has been the word of mouth created by his teachers willing to take this giant leap of faith.

He said he routinely heard students across the school ask similar question: “Did you hear teachers are jumping out of a plane?”

They were jumping and doing so for a great cause.

For more information about the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org .

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