SARASOTA COUNTY - Some very lucky disabled students were rewarded with a special plane ride Tuesday to give them a boost in confidence.

Students in the Easter Seals VIP program are about to finish their classes and head out into the job market.  It's a frightening experience for anyone, and even tougher if you have a disability.

So Tuesday, to help them gain courage to face the unknown, the students went on a plane ride.

Everybody in Don Herndon's class couldn't fit into the 6-seater plane made available for the flight by Dolphin Aviation, so the students built paper airplanes, and the ones whose planes flew the farthest got to go on the plane ride.

As they climbed aboard the plane, the four students were excited but nervous.  This was a new experience.  3 of the 4 had never been on a plane before.  But as the plane left the ground and showed them the wonders of Sarasota and the bay and the gulf, they lost their fear and were just were amazed at how tiny and beautiful everything looked from above.

Their teacher wanted them to take this flight to gain courage to face the unknown and walk with confidence into new experiences.  "I hope that they, you know, were able to experience something they had never experienced before.  And I hope that then translates into them being willing to try new things and being a little more adventureous, which will help them becoming more independent and obtaining employment in the future. ," says Herndon.