By:Chris Munzing
Principal Sandra Schneider and Teacher-in-Charge Betsy Kotcher will be dressing up as Shrek and Donkey on Dec. 23 to reward the school's students for reading for more than a combined 175,000 minutes during the past four weeks.
Every year for the past four years, Schneider has put out the Principal's Challenge: daring the students of the school to read, read, read until they reach a set number of minutes. This year, Schneider said, the students reached and surpassed 175,000 minutes. Schneider said that was made even more impressive because the number of minutes required has almost doubled since the first year.
Reaching the goal nets the kids a costume party. For the first year of the challenge, Schneider spent most of the day dressed up as a chicken. To make matters worse, Schneider said that since the children reached an even higher number of minutes, she spent the day dressed as a chicken with a Yankees jersey on.
"The kids know I'm a die-hard Mets fan, and they made sure I had to wear the jersey," she said.
During the four weeks of the challenge, the school encourages each student in the school to read 15 minutes a night, five nights a week. The student then fills out their weekly sheet of how many minutes they read, and hands it in.
Throughout the four weeks, Schneider gives announcements to the school on their progress, and how long they have to go. Kotcher said that telling the students how far they have to go only motivates them more.
Schneider also announces which classes are reading the most, and which student in each class is leading the way. Those students receive $5 gift certificates to the upcoming book fair.
Schneider started the challenge because of a decline in participation of the People as Reading Partners (PARP) program that is designed to encourage children to read with a parent or older relative at home.
"We needed to raise interest in PARP, and this was a great way to get both the kids and the parents involved," she said.
It was also a way to get Kotcher involved, but she didn't know it at the time.
"I was up on the stage in front of the class the second year, and I said that I would dress up as Little Bo Peep," Schneider said. "And Betsy looked at me from across the stage, and then I shouted, 'And Mrs. Kotcher will dress up as one my lost sheep!'"
"The words just came out of my mouth," Schneider said, laughing. "She was a little surprised and was cajoled into it, but she was a great sport."
Kotcher continued to a part of the challenge last year when the two women dressed up as fairies and delivered lunch and fairy dust throughout the cafeteria after the kids achieved their goal.
Despite having to spend the day dressed as a chicken or a fairy, Schneider said that anything she can do to motivate the children to read is worth it.
"We see too many kids more focused on their video games or television," she said. "They're not taking the time to sit down and read a book. This way, they read and they have a good time. Besides, I love doing this. The wannabe actress inside me gets to come out."
