Twenty-six kindergarten students get gift of a lifetime!
FULLERTON, CA (FOX 11) - Twenty-six kindergarten students at Rio Vista Elementary School in Anaheim are getting the gift of a lifetime thanks to Fullerton resident Marty Burbank and his wife Seon Chun-Burbank.
"We're going to pay for two years at a community college and two years at a Cal State University," the couple announced.
The Burbanks delivered the exciting news to the kids in Tessa Ashton's class, where they also gave them t-shirts with Indiana University's logo - Ashton's alma matter.
"I had to really simplify it like, you're going to be able to go because he's going to give you the money to be able to go," Ashton told her students who are all English language learners.
They'll also likely be the first in their family to go to college. It's a huge help for their parents, who have a message for the Burbanks.
"Thank you, thank you so much," one mom said.
"My feelings are happy," another mom said. "I'm so happy."
While college might be twelve years away and these kids are the class of 2032, the school tries to get kids thinking about college at a young age. Every Friday they wear college gear.
The Burbanks said they have a special connection to the students because they both were the first in their families to attend college and they want to pay it forward.
Ms. Ashton said it's a lesson in kindness she could never teach.
"They call him out and they say I'm being kind like Mr. Burbank," she said.
The couple expects the college fund to cost them a million dollars of their personal money.
They were inspired by a sermon at church during the holidays.
The two, who love sailing, decided to hold off buy a new boat.
"For the cost of buying a boat and the maintenance and the storage over the next twelve years, I can put these kids through school and that seemed like a better investment," Burbank said.
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