Central Florida teacher who quit job to train for Olympics qualifies for Paris 2024: 'HE DID IT!'
Donavon Banks, a former teacher at Windy Hill Middle School, held a javelin-throwing event at school where dozens of students attended. (Photo: Lake County Schools)
CLERMONT, Fla. - A Lake County middle school teacher quit his job last year to follow his Olympic dreams. Those dreams came true over the weekend.
Donavon Banks, a former robotics teacher at Windy Hill Middle School, will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after finishing in the top 3 in the men's javelin event at the Olympic Trials on Sunday.
"He was a great classroom teacher. All of the children loved him and all of us, staff included, were inspired by his work ethic," Windy Hill Middle School Principal Kelly Cousineau said in a press release. "He trained every day after school. He would tell all of us, ‘I am going to the Olympics.’ It was never ‘I hope to go' or 'I might go.'"
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To fulfill that dream, Banks quit his job at Windy Hill on May 24. He joined the teaching staff in July 2023 when he moved to Clermont to train at the National Training Center, a sports and fitness facility in Clermont.
Students at Windy Hill are also in Banks' corner. They even watched him throw at the track during their sixth period class to watch Banks throw.
Donavon Banks, a former teacher at Windy Hill Middle School, held a javelin-throwing event at school where dozens of students attended. (Photo: Lake County Schools)
"The goal was twofold – to allow students to see a future Olympian in action and to get Banks accustomed to throwing in front of a large and sometimes unpredictable crowd," a spokesperson for Lake County Schools said in a press release.
On May 19, a bus-full of students went to the National Training Center to watch Banks in an Olympic challenge that would automatically qualify him to compete in Paris. He was a few yards short, but his Olympic dreams weren't over that day.
Donavon Banks, a former teacher at Windy Hill Middle School, held a javelin-throwing event at school where dozens of students attended. (Photo: Lake County Schools)
Banks wound up qualifying for Team USA on Sunday night. Principal Cousineau took to Facebook to celebrate the big news as students and staff gathered to watch the trials.
"HE DID IT! Mr. Banks is going to Paris!! We are all so incredibly proud of you, Mr. Banks," she wrote.
The Paris Olympics official kick off with an opening ceremony on July 26. When Banks is set to compete, Windy Hill plans to host a watch party.