SPOKANE, Wash. — Every week, 67-year-old Theresa Adams drives 200 miles to volunteer to teach Taekwondo to students of the Northeast Youth Center.
Adams is from Carlton, WA and drives what takes her about four hours to get to Cooper Elementary School in Spokane.
On Monday’s and Wednesday’s the school gym is filled with students learning self-defense.
Nine years ago, Adams came to one of the classes while visiting her family.
“My daughter and my granddaughter started taking this class,” Adams said. “And the only way I could catch up with them was to come. And I would sit on the sidelines and watch them.”
It wasn’t long before she decided to challenge herself.
“After a while, I went, ‘I think I could do this,’” she said.
She began taking classes and worked her way up to earning a black belt.
She’s now teaching children of the same ages she used to watch. Adams said these children are who motivate her to make the drive every week.
“You’re supposed to, as a martial artist, pass on what you learned. The kids are worth it,” she said.
She teaches twice a week for two hours each day. Her specialty is a routine with a bo staff. It’s a combination of traditional Taekwondo moves with the precise swings of a long wooden staff.
“She’s nice, and she teaches a lot of things. She’s the one that helped us learn the bo staff form,” said Patrick Nguyen, one of her students.
”You do it just because they’re just worth it,” Adams said. “Watching them grow up, they’re family. They’re just like family.”
There is no charge for students to attend the classes. They “pay” by bringing two cans of food every month. The youth center then donates that food to families in need living around Spokane.