(KSTU) — It's almost time for Santa to ride in his sleigh, but did you know he also rides in helicopters?
That's how jolly old Saint Nick decided to spread some holiday cheer at an elementary school near Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
It wasn't powered by reindeer, but it was the sight to see in the skies over Western Hills Elementary in Kearns where hundreds of kids got out of class to see Santa make a special stop.
Joe Weim coordinated Santa’s visit in the helicopter.
"About two weeks ago, I was thinking of school kids and Christmas, and some of the troubles in the world, without getting too corny, and I thought to myself wouldn't it be fabulous to have Santa come down in a helicopter?" said Weim.
Wendy Lovell is the principal of Western Hills Elementary School. She says the planning process entailed providing safety measures for the kids.
"We've made a little ring around the field with cones and caution tape to keep the kids safe and an 'x' marks the spot right in the middle, and then Santa is going to fly down and he is going to wave to the kiddos and he’s going to drop down some candy for each of our kids," said Lovell.
Lovell says teachers used the opportunity to combine some Christmas magic with real world science.
"We talked about how helicopters were researched with birds and seeing how hummingbirds go back and forth and different things how that works, we talked about connecting this to the candy bomber, who came in during WWII and how this is a Santa bomber in a way," said Lovell.
Lovell says she is proud of her students’ hard work rising from being in the lower 5% in the state academically to earning a ‘B’ ranking.
“Kids are working really hard, and we just really are trying to learn at really high levels and we're thrilled and excited for the work that everybody's doing,” said Lovell.
And when Santa finally made his big appearance, he blew everyone away.
"My goal, my hope is that this be a wonderful day for them and wonderful life and after that, always remember this," said Weim.
