San Jose teacher honored with special Air Jordan 1 shoes, 'SP Gina'

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- It was an amazing honor for a San Jose school teacher on Friday. Virginia Wright, known as SP Gina, got some Air Jordan 1s made in her honor during an assembly at Santee Elementary.

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Wright began collecting Jordans back in 2015 as a way to connect with her students. That's when she caught the attention of the people at Shoe Palace, a San Jose-based retail chain.

Executives with the company loved her enthusiasm, passion and dedication to her students, and felt that needed to be recognized.

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"They liked that I was a teacher, they liked the way I was giving back to the community, so instead of going to an athlete or a celebrity, they chose to go with a teacher," said Wright. "To inspire kids, that's why they put 'Made to Inspire.'" said Wright.

Wright is blown away by the honor.

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As for the shoes, which are part of a special SP Gina line, they'll be available starting Saturday at the Shoe Palace location on Bascom Avenue in San Jose, with a company-wide release on June 1.

By the way, the SP in SP Gina stands for Shoe Palace.