Gerber >> Dreams four years in the works for Gerber Elementary School teacher Keri Spengler and 19 students will come true when they leave Gerber early Friday to be in Portland for a University of Montana football game on Saturday.

Four years ago, Gerber School became a No Excuses University school — a movement that promotes college and career awareness and readiness in part by fostering connections between students and universities and colleges.

The partnership with the University of Montana Grizzlies really took off in 2015 when Eric and Cinder Dawald, University of Montana alumni, helped connect students to football player Cooper Sprunk, who hails from Portland.

Spengler tried to find a way to get her students to a game in the past, but was unable to do so until she was contacted by Michelle Wheeler from the Sentinel Kiwanis Club of Missoula. Wheeler read about Sprunk’s trip to visit the students on his break in January and wanted to see about helping the school see him play.

“In reading an article about Cooper’s efforts, it occurred to me that Cooper has the heart of a true Kiwanian,” Wheeler said in a letter she sent to other Kiwanis Clubs seeking support for the project. “I spoke to the teacher of these kids about the impact Cooper has had on these kids, and she confirmed that his attention and encouragement has lit these kids up to improve their future through education. It also occurred to me that these kids need to see Cooper play football during his last season at the University of Montana … This is a chance for the Kiwanis family to inspire the children of our future- and to improve the world, one child and one community at a time.”

Spengler said the trip will cost about $7,500 and was made possible by a donations from Kiwanis clubs in Montana as well as Red Bluff and Central Tehama Kiwanis clubs.

“I never dreamed this would happen,” Spengler said. “At this point it doesn’t seem real. So many people here and in Montana have stepped up and it’s wonderful, especially for this group of kids who are students with good grades, but also good kids. The outpouring of love from the communities has been amazing.”

In addition to the game, the students will get a personal tour of the Nike facility from Cooper’s father, Eric Sprunk, an executive with the company.

“It’s such a huge thing for them to see and to take the kids to the game will be something that takes it beyond the four walls (of the classroom),” Spengler said.

Many of the students do not travel far from Gerber. This trip will not only show them life outside of Tehama County, but allow them to learn about careers through the field trip.

“The kids have been busy making cards and posters for Cooper in preparation for the trip,” Spengler said. “It means everything to them and it’s the trip of a lifetime. Some of our students don’t travel a lot outside of California and some of them have never been away from their families overnight.”

The group will get to tour the Portland State University campus thanks to a local connection with the athletic director, who is from Orland.

“It teaches them that if I do well in school I can go to college and be like Cooper,” Spengler said. “It teaches them that I can have opportunities to get a good job and after high school I can go to Chico, Portland or Montana for college.”

Throughout the experience, Sprunk has gone above and beyond in writing letters, using Skype to talk with the students and responding to her texts, Spengler said.

Writing letters has helped students take practical, monotonous grammar lessons and give them meaning because now they get a letter back and they’re able to here Sprunk talk about things like bullying and how not to give up when things get hard.

“He walked into the room and they instantly loved him,” Spengler said of Sprunk’s visit in January. “You could tell that he has a big heart and is a good person. We could do this 10 more years and we’d probably never find another Cooper. He’s crazy busy, but still finds time to text us. I can’t wait to see the kids faces when they go on the field and see him.”