Dan Larson isn’t Santa Claus, but is granting wishes as if he is a genie.
A genie who grants wishes for the seniors he teaches at Mountain View High School.
“It gives me something positive to do each day,” said Larson, Mountain View High School’s girls basketball coach and a social studies teacher. “I started thinking about what I can control to not only make the kids and seniors feel more upbeat, but for myself.”
For the past month, he’s fulfilled almost 20 wishes by students. He’s delivered students books, cereal, and classroom memorabilia. He also visited a student working at a fast-food drive-thru, and sent a student a hand-written note for their yearbook.
The COVID-19 pandemic has cut short not only a school year, but senior class traditions and memories. Larson knows he can’t bring back those milestone moments, but is doing his best to brighten high school seniors’ days in the cloudiest of times.
“They’re not going to have that experience that you had once upon a time,” he said. “I can’t replace any of that, but if I can give them a small memory … I can control that.”
He got the idea for “Senior Wishes” last month when he checked in with players in his girls basketball program after Gov. Jay Inslee closed schools March 16. Since then, he’s expanded the offer to all 67 seniors he teaches at Mountain View.
Lizo Nguyen, 17, is one of Larson’s wish-granting recipients. Nguyen played tennis all four years of high school, only to have her senior season cut short two weeks into the season. She wished for one final match on Mountain View’s courts with Larson, her C-team tennis coach. With schools closed, facilities are off limits. So Larson did the next-best thing by naming Nguyen C-team MVP complete with a certificate and balloons that spelled out M-V-P.
“I wasn’t expecting the balloons,” she said. “It definitely made my day.”
Fellow senior Abby Horton felt the same way when Larson gave her a $25 gift card to be used toward Horton’s wish of purchasing a fishing license. And Larson handed it to Horton on the end of a fishing pole.
“That’s totally something he would do,” Horton said. “I didn’t know what I was going to get, and this is awesome.”
Horton is involved in ASB and also returned to the basketball program this past winter — Larson’s first season as the girls head coach. It’s gestures like the one she and others have received that have put a special spin on a senior year cut short.
“This meant a lot to me,” Horton said. “I really appreciate that he’s gone out of his way so the students still feel involved and loved by the staff, and keeping the Thunder culture alive.”
