Father honors late daughter with surprise field trip for classmates

TUSCUMBIA, Ala. – A father who lost his daughter in a car crash last year surprised her entire second-grade class by taking them on a field trip to her favorite place.

Jaleia Smith died September 27, just three weeks after her 8th birthday in which she jumped and played with friends at the SkyZone trampoline park in Tuscumbia (Ala.).

Recommended Videos



In honor of his daughter's memory, Jeremy Smith took all 111 second graders from G.W. Trenholm Primary School to SkyZone to celebrate her life and the end of the school year.

“I’m not going to say it’s tough,” Smith told WHNT. “I going to say I just wish my daughter could have been here with them. This is one of her places that she loved to come to.”

After her death, Jaleia's classmates planted a tree in her honor and left her messages on chalkboards throughout the school.

“Everything they helped me through with my daughter’s situation; all the support they gave me,” said Smith. “So, I just wanted to thank G.W. Trenholm for being there with me through my sorrows.”