By Marion Filler
Teachers have been trying forever to motivate students to read. But Principal Peter Frazzano of the Sussex Avenue School in Morristown has tried just a little bit harder.
Actually a lot harder.
Last year it was duct tape. This year it was slime.
Yes, that’s right. Slime.
The deal was this: If 100 percent of the students participated, he was all theirs. Who could resist? Evidently no one. About 135 children competed in the reading challenge for their opportunity to slime their principal, and they relished the occasion.
It was a five-week contest. Each child had to read for a minimum of 15 minutes every night, including weekends, and log their minutes on a spreadsheet through Google Classroom.
Christine Kelly, the school librarian, then added up the minutes for each reader and put them on another spreadsheet.
“We had a friendly classroom competition as well,” said Kelly. “The class that read the most minutes received a pizza party during lunch. As a whole, we read close to 120,000 minutes.”
Lauren Gutierrez’s 4th grade won the contest with 13,000 minutes. Her students would compete among themselves, asking each other how much they had read the night before, and they weren’t the only ones.
Maya Gieszczynksi in Hailee Michel’s class said: “This is the best reading challenge ever. I can’t wait slime Mr. Frazzano!”
Cora Minchello from Rebecca Clark-Harris‘ class agreed, saying: “This reading challenge is so fun!”
Kelly hopes to continue the competition for next year, possibly with Silly String.
“Pete has been a GREAT sport by allowing the students to duct tape him last year, and this year sliming him. When the principal is involved in the reading challenge, it really motivates the kids to read more.
“I think it’s important to uplift the kids towards the end of the year because after testing, teachers start to see a slide in behavior and classroom participation. Because Pete is a positive role model for the students, they get such a kick out of being able to ‘do something to the principal.’ It creates camaraderie, school spirit, and friendly competition in the building.”
