A Florida teacher had her sister in Kentucky ship a snowman to her classroom after realizing most of her kindergarten students had never seen snow before.
Robin Hughes, 60, a special education teacher at SouthShore Charter Academy in Riverview, Florida, was reading a book about snow when she noticed that some of the children looked confused by the pictures.
When she asked how many of them had seen snow before, only two of them raised their hands. Hughes, who grew up in Louisa, Kentucky, was admittedly surprised.
‘I was shocked that they had not seen snow,’ she told The Washington Post. ‘It’s hard for kids to understand the concept because they don’t have the relevant knowledge.’
Robin Hughes, 60, a special education teacher at SouthShore Charter Academy in Riverview, Florida, surprised her kindergarten students with a snowman
SouthShore Charter Academy documented the moment Hughes’s students met ‘Lucky’ the snowman for the first time in a heartwarming Facebook Live video
The surprise came about after Hughes read a book about snow to her students and learned that only two of them had seen it before
Determined to show her students snow for the first time, Hughes reached out to her sister, Amber Estes, who lives in Danville, Kentucky. She asked her to make a snowman and overnight it to her, but Estes didn’t think it would be possible.
‘I said to her, “We haven’t had a measurable amount of snow.” I was making every excuse in the world,’ Estes, 59, told NBC affiliate WLEX. ‘I accepted the challenge because I knew that I would never have to live up to it.’
But in January, after Danville was hit with 10 inches of snow, Estes went into her backyard and made a snowman complete with blueberry eyes, a carrot nose, and sticks for arms.
She then packed it into an insulated container filled with ice packs and sealed the box closed. It cost $78 to overnight the snowman to her sister’s school through the U.S. Postal Service.
Hughes reached out to her sister, Amber Estes (pictured), who lives in Danville, Kentucky, and asked her to send a snowman to show her students
In January, after Danville was hit with 10 inches of snow, Estes went into her backyard and made a snowman complete with blueberry eyes, a carrot nose, and sticks for arms
Estes packed the snowman into an insulated container filled with ice packs before spending $78 to ship it to her sister’s classroom overnight through the U.S. Postal Service
Lucky made the 800-mile journey in one piece, and Hughes’s students excitedly gathered around the box to look at the snowman after he had arrived
‘Anything I can do as a teacher to bring joy to the classroom and also teach them a little something, then it makes it all worth it,’ Hughes told NBC affiliate WLEX
Estes named the snowman ‘Lucky’ in the hope that he’d make the 800-mile journey to Florida without melting.
She told The Post that he would keep his name if he arrived intact. If he didn’t, they’d call him ‘Puddles’ instead.
SouthShore Charter Academy documented the moment Hughes’s students met Lucky for the first time in a heartwarming Facebook Live video.
The kindergarteners excitedly gathered around the box to look at the snowman, and some couldn’t resist trying to touch him.
Lucky, who now lives in the school’s cafeteria freezer, is brought out at least twice a day so the kindergarten teacher’s students can touch him and ask questions
In honor of Earth Day in April, Hughes is going to let Lucky melt and use the water to plant a garden at the school to show her students how everything comes full circle
‘Anything I can do as a teacher to bring joy to the classroom and also teach them a little something, then it makes it all worth it. And my sister was just the greatest partner in crime to help me do that so, he was perfect,’ Hughes told WLEX.
Lucky, who now lives in the school’s cafeteria freezer, is brought out at least twice a day so the kindergarten teacher’s students can touch him and ask questions.
Hughes plans on keeping the snowman until April, but he won’t be forgotten when he melts. In honor of Earth Day, she will use the water to plant a garden at the school to show her students how everything comes full circle.
‘In a time when things are not normal for kids in the classroom and for adults … this little snowman has created happiness,’ she explained to The Post.