Westlock Elementary School principal Pierre Ouimet kissed a goat last week, plain and simple.
But he did it for a pretty good reason, though. His students managed to read for more than 6,000 minutes in class in just one month and the deal was if they were able to reach that milestone, their principal would pucker up and kiss the barnyard animal right on the lips.
They actually read more than 6,200 minutes and on April 17, Ouimet held up his end of the bargain.
The audience of Grade 1s through Grade 6s erupted.
It was their reward for taking such a lively part in National Reading Month, an annual event that falls every March and commences on the day of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
Grade 4 teacher and school literacy lead Rebecca Wolff explained to Pembina Hills Public Schools trustees at their April 17 meeting how the local month-long program was designed and how staff encouraged their students to reach such high levels of literacy with theme-days that enlivened their will to pick up a book, not to mention the deal with Ouimet.
The trick, said Wolff, was to figure out how to encourage participation. It’s her first year as a teacher at the school and much of the first few months were devoted to that very question.
“The first part of the year I took a look at what we do here at the school, literacy-wise, and tried to figure out how to increase engagement towards literacy with kids. We know there’s always those kids who don’t want to read when it’s reading time,” Wolff told trustees.
In her research she discovered National Reading Month, took the idea to Ouimet and the next thing you know students were taking part in theme-days that ranged from Dr. Seuss Day to Crazy Hat Day, to Wear a Shirt You Can Read Day or Dress Like a Character Day.
“What we did was we got together and we planned out a theme for each day of March to help kids have some kind engagement in reading,” said Wolff.
“Flashlight Day was very exciting. Lots of kids brought their flashlight and read in the dark all day.”
Wolff said her favourite day was Karaoke Day because reading the lyrics on a screen counts as reading too.
For the future, Wolff said she would like to see a Canada Reads spin-off and a read-a-thon.
“We had lots of positive feedback from parents and students and teachers. We think it was a success and we’ve already started planning for next year,” said Wolff.
“I love reading, I want kids to read and I want them to love reading, so that is just the start of my first year here.”
It’s not everyday you get to see your principal kiss a goat. For the kids, it was likely a bargain.
