WALLA WALLA, Wash.
Heart pounding kicks and flips are all apart of the routine for a local acrobatic team, but it's all in preparation for something much bigger.
While most high school students are focusing on summer break, these high-flying athletes have their sights set on something else.
"The last two times they've gone to an orphanage in Jamaica," said AcroKnight Coach Scott Schaffer.
Every other year, the AcroKnights save up their money from performances to fly overseas and spend time with kids who are often forgotten. Coach Schaffer organizes the trips. "For me, it's about taking something that's unique, and fun, that's different that a lot of kids in that part of the world haven't seen and just going with it," he said.
They're just kids themselves, but their first priority is spending time with other, less fortunate children. While there, they put on performances to raise money they can leave with the orphanage, and they usually don't leave without fixing a few things up first.
Acroknight Shiloh Seranto went on the last trip .
"We just hold them, and be with them, and spend time with them and do acro moves with them. they were so excited about it. it was one of the best experiences I've ever had," she said.@
Their next trip, to Jamaica or Belize, is scheduled for March of 2013. Shiloh says it'll be just as important for the AcroKnights, as it is for the kids they're helping out, "I think we all learned to appreciate what we have."
It costs almost $2,000 for each student to go on the trip. The acro troop has three performances this weekend, where they hope to raise some of that money.
The first is Saturday at 9 p.m. at Walla Walla University. There will be two performances on Saturday also at Walla Walla University, at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students at the door.
