Coach Julie Hudson continues beloved Halloween pirate ship tradition for Blackfoot students

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) - Students at Moreland Elementary School are celebrating Halloween a little differently. Their P.E. teacher, Julie Hudson, decorates the gym every year to make it look like a pirate ship. This has been a 15-year tradition that she doesn't plan on stopping any time soon.

"This is my 15th year doing the pirate ship," Hudson said. "I do it because it's something that the kids can remember when they get older. I'll see random kids as they're older and they say, 'I remember doing that. I wish I could do it again.'"

The ship is set up across the gym floor with five different routes for kids to ride their scooters through. Hudson had a little help setting up this year, but this masterpiece usually takes her nearly 72 hours to put together every year.

"One of my great friends built some wooden platforms in the middle, so it's helped to be more stable. Her and her husband helped me, and teachers helped me put stuff up, and my daughter helped me," Hudson explained.

Her creation encourages students to be physically active while also giving them a chance to express their creativity and make lasting memories.

"I had a PE teacher when I was in seventh grade named Phil Lucky," Hudson recalled. "He was an awesome PE teacher, and he did stuff with the pirate ships, kind of like this, with the parachute. He was just a great teacher. He was a big influence on a lot of kids. So if I can just be a good influence on the kids, and I like to be creative and do different things with them, so it's fun."

Giving her students a lasting memory and a reason to get active is why Coach Julie Hudson does this every year.