‘Best day ever’: Santa surprises Las Vegas students with toys

When third grader Jonathan Buenaventura saw Santa arrive on a firetruck, he started jumping up and down so much he got dizzy.

Jonathan was not alone. As Santa, Mrs. Claus, the Grinch and presents arrived on firetrucks at Beckley Elementary School Thursday morning, kids stomped, screeched and threw their hands up in excitement.

“This is the best day ever,” third grader Katie Fonticoba said after hugging Mrs. Claus.

It was the 22nd year that the Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation had partnered with the Clark County School District to spread holiday cheer at elementary schools. The nonprofit does a toy drive over the holiday season, which Keith Armington, vice president of the group, said, ends up helping 30,000 kids.

Armington cycles through visiting Title I elementary schools, and Santa makes a stop at two schools per year. In past years, Santa has even arrived via helicopter. On Wednesday, the team, made up of firefighters from all over the valley, visited Katz Elementary School.

When Principal Shannon Brown found out that Beckley had been “adopted” by the nonprofit this year, she was all in. The Title I school has 79 students who are part of CCSD’s Title I Homeless Outreach Program for Education, Brown said.

“This is everything for them. They’ve never had an opportunity like this. This gives them hope and excitement for the holidays,” Brown said.

Santa’s arrival came as a surprise to the students, who had been taken outside to sing carols.

“I did threaten my staff a little bit,” Brown joked, taking pride in the school’s success in ensuring no student knew.

Third graders Jade Lewis and Reeva Mehar said that when they first saw the firetrucks and heard the sirens, they thought there was an emergency.

“It was amazing, we were screaming like crazy,” Mehar said.

The students’ Christmas spirit was evident as they yelled at the Grinch not to steal Christmas. Third grader Nevaeh Armenta, who described herself as “just like Cindy Lou” approached the Grinch several times to yell at him.

“Grinch, you know why you can’t steal Christmas? Christmas is about kids who like presents. We don’t steal Christmas. We don’t like stealing,” Nevaeh said.

Students did not, however, seem to take issue with the Dalmation dog that accompanied him.

In addition to meeting Christmas characters, students also emerged with large toys from Walmart — including trucks, stuffed animals and toy pizza kits. Mehar was eager to give the purse set, which she had loved when she was younger, to her baby sister.

“Being able to see one kid smile makes my holiday season,” Armington said.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bskysocial.