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.