Cowabunga! Don't Have a Cow, Man!

The day to pay off the reading challenge arrived. It was to be a spectacle because it was the last full day of school. The reading committee again engaged the community and contacted the press.

The plan was to start the day with all the students assembled in the gym. They would watch me be “spiked”. The temporary stage was installed and hair styling equipment brought in. We had parents who were hair stylists and owned a salon. They were enlisted to perform the deed.

I was draped in a smock before I came into the gym. On the stage were the parents from Creative Cuts hair salon, lots of styling stuff, and a huge hair dryer. All around the gym were TV cameras and reporters. It must have been another slow news day.

As I sat under the camera lights, the stylists began to work on my much thinning hair. Getting such little hair to stand up was probably a challenge. I am sure my hair would not be very visible. To insure visibility, the stylists decided to add color. The colors chosen were Irving School colors, royal blue and yellow.

 Mary D. took to the stage and talked about the reading program and the success. It was all kind of fun.It took about a half an hour to complete. The students were well behaved and groaned as they saw the colors added.

The morning of the program, I decided I needed to wear something the students would like. My son, Scott, had purchased a black Bart Simpson T-shirt. I asked him if I could wear it. With the smock around me, the students couldn’t see my T-shirt.

When the deed was done, I came to the microphone and took off the smock. The students went wild when they saw the Bart Simpson T-shirt. That part was cool, but the hairstyle was pretty ridiculous.

I was then interviewed by most of the TV reporters. You can’t look cool on TV with yellow and blue spikes in your hair. (If you want to see the TV coverage, you will need to go back to Facebook.)

So what do you do when you are the principal wearing a goofy hairstyle and T-shirt? What else could I do but read to classes. So I positioned myself in the Learning Center and read to classes as they came in.

While spending the day there I was to receive a surprise. Two  of my four  brothers Steve and Jeff, and my Mom and step Dad, Al, walked into the Learning Center. They had driven over 100 miles just to see my stunt. I am told my younger brother, Steve, looks a great deal like me. The students confirmed this when he walked on to the playground during recess and the students thought he was me. I wonder if they thought I had lost my Bart Simpson T-shirt and blue and yellow spikes.

7 weeks = 1 million pages and 1 dress

7 weeks! I couldn’t believe it. What had taken 7 months, took only 7 weeks. I was going to have to humiliate myself and pay up again.

The phenomenal amount of reading done by the Irving students that spring continues to amaze. After spring break, the results started pouring into the reading committee. Totals were accelerating in every class, but one. It became obvious that the student effort, and perhaps some creative accounting by the reading committee, was going to put me up to paying off another 1 million page challenge.Hopefully, the kids were encouraged by their own success in reaching the first goal and putting me on the roof. The only thing to do was let the whole school watch me get “spiked”.

Still, there was that one class which simply wasn’t reaching their goal. Rick B.’s 6^th grade class was not pulling their share of the load. He decided they needed a more personal challenge. Sometime during the year he told them he would wear a dress to school if they reached their goal. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough motivation. I decided to step in.

Terry T. had taught at Irving a number of years in the Behavior Disorders program. He had a high school certificate and wanted to teach 6^th grade, but our numbers were small that year. I only had enough students for the two 6^th grade teachers. With the upcoming opening of the new junior high building next fall, all 6^th grade teachers would be transferred to Bloomington Junior High. Terry T. elected to transfer to an opening at Sheridan Elementary for that one year. That was the year of the reading challenge.

I called my fellow principal, Don, and proposed a plan. Even though it was May, I would tell Rick. B. that a student needed to transfer to his room. This was highly unusual so I knew the story had to be compelling. We agreed on a story of a sad situation requiring a new setting for the student. We enlisted Terry’s support as the "student's"classroom teacher, because I knew Rick B. would check out the “sad story”.

Terry did a masterful job of spinning the tale. He convinced Rick B. that a transfer was the best way for this girl to be successful. Rick B. has a big heart and reluctantly agreed to welcome the student to his room.

The day of the transfer, Rick B. prepared his class to welcome a new girl. He had a desk prepared and walked to the door to greet her. However, the student I “officially” transferred wasn’t a 6^th grader and she wasn’t from Sheridan. She was the top reader from Mary D.’s 2^nd grade class (remember she was the chair of the Irving reading committee?). 

I escorted her to Rick B’s room, carrying a huge stack a books she had read. I kept her behind me until we got to the door. As Rick B. came to the door to greet her, I stepped aside and introduced her. He looked a little shocked as I explained all of the books she had read were also being transferred to his room total. I said that made his room total exceed the goal and he would have to pay off. His response was an open mouth with his finger curved inside. He knew had been “hooked”.

On the final full day of school we had big assembly, and Rick B. arrived fully decked out in a dress, wig, and high heels.He is seen below with Joan B., Learning Center teacher.

It Was a Slow News Day

Mary D. and the reading committee decided this reading challenge needed publicity. The local radio station was contacted, as was the newspaper. In addition every television station from Peoria to Champaign was contacted about the event. They asked the Irving Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for help as well. I contacted our maintenance staff to see if they could put a desk on the roof. They took it even further.

I could easily reach the roof through a learning center window, but I thought we should have a little more drama. I told Nancy, our custodian, I wanted to climb a ladder in front of the students. She ordered an extension ladder that would reach the roof from the front playground.

On the afternoon before  the event, the maintenance crew acquired a fork lift and raised a desk and chair to the roof. They then proceeded to run electric power and telephone wire to the desk. The PTO had ordered a large banner to hang under the roof, and the maintenance staff hung it. The PTO also ordered a special sweatshirt for me to wear. It was a nice warm spring day.

The next morning I arrived early to prepare.  Nancy had the ladder in place. The temperature had dropped overnight, and the wind was blowing hard. I was nervous about climbing from the ladder to the roof, as the ladder just reached the top and it was a long step up from the ladder. I also had a lifelong fear of heights, having frozen on a ladder multiple times as a kid.  I decided I needed something to grab to pull myself up. After discussing with Nancy, we decided I could use the window hardware if a window was opened near the ladder. Nancy said she would make sure it was open.

In spite of the cold, my adrenaline was pumping keeping me warm. Still, I knew it would be a long cold day, so I brought extra clothes and blankets to get through the day. I also brought my coffeepot from home and filled it well before the students arrived. I stashed reading material in the desk. With that, and a phone to make a few calls, I hoped to keep busy.

Our standard school day began on the playground with the students lined up by class. We would say the Pledge of Alliance while lined up beneath the flagpole. It always sent chills up my back when we did this. This day the chills would last all day.

The students began to arrive, and then the surprises started. I didn’t know about the sweatshirt or the banner. I also didn’t expect the press to arrive. There were TV cameras everywhere. A radio station reporter arrived and she briefly interviewed me, and then moved on to students. Parents were interviewed as well as staff.

After all the drama of me climbing up, the staff began to move the students into the school. It was so cold, I started adding clothes. I turned on the coffee pot and took a seat. Later in the day, I was called while on the roof, and interviewed on live radio. I guess it was a slow news day.

The students who were in the learning center could clearly see me. They made a point to stop and wave. I heard one of the teachers say she thought it was cruel to leave me out there all day. I appreciated that, but was determined to stay.

One consequence of the cold, and the coffee, was an overwhelming need to use the bathroom. In all the planning, we hadn’t made provision for this. Fortunately, Nancy checked on me periodically. I asked if she could open the roof access to the air handling room on the second floor. Immediately around the corner from this area was a faculty restroom. I waited until the students left the learning center, and made a dash up the ladder to the next level, across the roof to the access door and down inside the air handling room. I snuck around the corner to the restroom and did not encounter anyone. I was back on the roof in a few minutes. Nancy saved the day!

One of the TV reporters crawled out the join me and did an interview. In the afternoon, the Pantagraph photographer joined me as well. She worked around the roof area, taking photos everywhere. She even climbed a ladder connected to a higher roof area, and hung by her arm while taking photos. Reporters and photographers are dedicated folks.

The superintendent showed up in the learning center and crawled out on the roof. He wasn’t much for publicity stunts, but he got caught up in the hoopla.

I took phone calls from fellow principals all morning and huddled to stay out of the wind. By the time of the first lunch periods, the sun came out. The roof began to warm and the students were allowed outside for noon recess. It was fun to interact with them from the roof, until they started chanting “Jump Jump”.

By dismissal it was reasonably nice outside. I stayed on the roof watching the buses load. As the students left I waved goodbye. When they were all gone, I climbed through the learning center window and went down to my office. I was totally exhausted.

My office had been ably managed by secretaries Delia and Deb and James S.  who covered for me. As a welcome back, the staff placed a banner over my door, and filled my office with balloons. I was tired and not amused, but I knew they meant well.

The next day, the following photo above was on the front page of the Pantagraph. The over whelming press coverage caused more coverage. I found out later, that some national feeds picked up the story. A few years later, while in a conference in Cincinnati with some east coast principals, I was told it was broadcast in Florida and Virginia. I saw an armed forces newspaper from Phoenix, Arizona that mentioned it. There was a brief mention in an educator’s newsletter under innovative ideas.

It was wonderful end to a project that caught the attention of the students. The staff made it all happen and I cannot thank them enough. I am sure I failed to mention so many that helped make this reality. I also am proud of the Irving kids. I hope they remember it fondly and recognized that they could accomplish anything if they worked hard.

 If you are reading through Facebook, you can go back to see the all of the TV news coverage from that day. As I said above, it must have been a slow news day.

Reading Rooftop Adventure

It all began with an attempt to improve the reading results from our standardized testing. Irving School serves a relatively low income area of Bloomington. Students from this area do not typically score as high on test measures as students from other areas of town. This is not from a lack of effort on the part of a very dedicated staff.

I formed committees to focus on each subject area. ( One was a Fine Arts committee, which I abbreviated FARTS in faculty meeting).The reading committee became the focus of the attempt to stimulate more reading by the students. The belief was that more reading would lead to greater reading success.

I recall telling the committee I was willing to sit on the roof for a day if the students would reach a reading goal. I do not recall where the idea originated. I also felt we needed a large, but reachable goal. It was important to me that the students realize they could accomplish something big and important.

I thought the number 1 million was often thrown about, but that most of us had no concept on the actual size of that number. 1 million books seemed pretty unreachable, but 1 million pages seemed a reasonable goal for a student population of around 450. The staff did the calculations and determined a goal for each classroom.

Joanie S. did a nice drawing to display in the hallway and track the results.

Mary D. chaired the reading committee and took the lead. The reading committee established tracking procedures and the count was on. We were to discover that progress was not very rapid at first.

As the numbers ticked up, it became apparent the goal might not be reached, and certainly not until the spring. However, the staff remained positive and continued to encourage reading at all times. Any time students were not specifically studying another subject, they were given free reading time. Joan B. did a terrific job of encouraging reading and book checkout from the learning center.

As we entered February, it appeared the goal could be reached, but only in the spring. This was good for me, as sitting in the cold would not be too much fun. Spring break was the last week in March and fortunately the goal was reached just before break.

I decided to pay off the challenge a few days after we returned from break. It seemed reasonable to give us time to prepare. I also thought it would be a little warmer outside.

When the reading committee saw we reached the goal, Mary D. asked me to set another challenge to complete the year.When I asked for suggestions, someone (probably Mary) suggested I get my hair spiked like a rock and roll player. At that time, Bart Simpson was a new item, and lots of kids, and adults, thought the Simpsons was pretty funny. Bart was not a good role model, but he did have sort of spiked hair.

I agreed to spike my hair if the students would read another million pages by the end of the year. I figured I was safe, as it took the students 7 months to reach 1 million pages. There were only 7 weeks left after spring break. 2 million seemed so remote, I said I would double count the number of pages read over spring break. I thought this might keep the kids reading. Boy, "encourage" was an understatement.