Christian Johnson was about the only kid on the school bus not running his fingers across the treads of his new shoes or shouting to the teacher to check them out.
The 9-year-old’s zip-up, orange and black Skechers were tucked in his backpack so they wouldn’t get scuffed, at least until he had a chance to show his mom.
“I saw all of the commercials, and I chose these,” said Christian, one of about 150 Barrett Elementary School students who got new shoes and socks Wednesday during a holiday field trip.
Every student at Barrett, where about 90 percent of kids are from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, could ask for their dream pair of shoes – from $80 Nike Air Jordans to black leather boots with dangling heart- shaped charms.
Secretaries, doctors and nurses at HealthOne Rose Medical Center shopped for the shoes and handed them out in their lobby, where kids immediately sat down to try them on and popped up to test their traction.
Arieyuna Aribon, 5, jumped up and down in her pink and purple sneakers – after she got them on the right feet.
Fellow kindergartner Cesar Chavez lifted the lid on the box holding his new Nike high-tops.
“We get to keep the shoes?” he asked.
Virgil Garcia, an 8-year-old in an adult-size Broncos coat, shouted, “They’re the ones I wanted!” after he saw his black Nikes.
Rose’s chief executive, Ken Feiler, said he “would have paid admission” to watch the kids tearing into shoe boxes and chanting “Rocky!” when the mascot for the Denver Nuggets gave them high-fives.
In six years, no kid has ever asked for a toy instead of shoes, said Kim Kerr, a secretary who headed up the shopping task force.
“Some of these kids have never had brand-new shoes,” she said.
There was just one pair of shoes on a kid’s wish list that Rose shoppers couldn’t find this year – black Nike Air Force Ones.
On the five-minute bus ride from the school just north of City Park, Barrett Elementary principal Allen Smith chatted with a boy going to Mexico for Christmas while a group of fourth-graders tried to figure out who had the biggest feet.
Just before they left, Smith spotted a thin girl crouched in a school hallway, crying. She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing that she didn’t get to go because she didn’t turn in her permission slip.
The principal promised she would still get shoes. But he shook his head as he walked away, frustrated by parents who don’t respond to notes or move and don’t give the school their new phone numbers.
Then Smith popped in front of another class for a quick lesson on appreciation and graciousness.
“This is a really big deal, not just because you guys are going to get the shoes that you hoped for,” Smith told the kids. “It’s a bigger opportunity for people to show they care about you and they want you to do your best.”
And, the principal warned, if you don’t say thank you or if you complain about the shoes, “I will give them to someone who will be appreciative.”
Six-year-old Shalya Turner, thrilled with her pink sneakers, didn’t need the reminder.
“I love to wear my pretty pair of shoes,” she said, swinging her legs off the bus seat. “I gotta show my mommy.”
BY THE NUMBERS
150
Kids who received new shoes during the “Sole to Soul” shoe drive
90
Percentage of students at Barrett Elementary School who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch
6
Years HealthOne Rose Medical Center has given away shoes to Denver children
