Fort Bragg principal makes a freefall inspired by reading
A Fort Bragg elementary school principal jumped from a Cessna P206 on Friday, bringing to reality a lifelong dream of hers and recognizing her students' excellence in reading.
Principal Latonya Leeks, 50, took part in a tandem jump with retired Master Sgt. Sunnydale Hyde, with All Veteran Group, about 12:30 p.m. Friday. The jump was made possible by AVG as part of the Raeford-based parachuting team's Hometown Heroes Program.
Leeks' freefall onto Polo Field on Fort Bragg came after she challenged each grade level at Bowley Elementary School to read 4,887 minutes in March for Read Across America. The number of minutes Leeks chose matched the number of miles across the United States from Hawaii to North Carolina's Outer Banks. She told the students if they met their reading goal, she would jump out of an airplane.
The children trounced the goal.
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"They met the challenge. They exceeded the challenge. They are so deserving of this opportunity to see their principal take flight," Leeks said in a video in advance of the jump. "They are our military children, they serve, too, and so they deserve to be able to see something fantastic.
"I'm celebrating. I'm excited. I've got a little bit of butterflies, but you know what, it is totally worth the experience."
Leeks said not only was she keeping the promise she made to her students but that as the daughter of an airborne soldier, it had always been a dream of hers to skydive.
She explained that her father, Sgt. First Class James Leeks Jr., who died in 2004, told her, "Baby girl, there's no feeling like the feeling that you get when you jump."
The video, posted to All Veteran Group's Facebook page, also showed clips from the jump, with Leeks' perpetual, dimpled grin filling the screen.
"Oh, my God! Incredible," she squealed midjump and as her tandem partner, Hyde, laughed along.
After a smooth landing and Leeks' celebration on the ground, students rushed for hugs.
Born and raised in Fayetteville, Leeks is a graduate of E.E. Smith High School and N.C. Central University, according to her social media page.
F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Latonya Leeks, Fort Bragg principal, skydives to celebrate reading
