Newell Elementary School Principal Kelly Huggins told her pupils that If they succeeded in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge she would cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love. The pupils met the reading challenge and Huggins made good on her promise. ALLENTOWN — This year, Newell Elementary School Principal Kelly Huggins cut off her hair for Locks of Love. Last year, Huggins kissed a pig.
Huggins has agreed to those challenges each year to motivate the school’s student body to meet reading goals set for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.
Once again, Huggins’ enthusiastic support worked like a charm.
Some 505 Newell pupils read enough books to finish first in New Jersey and sixth in the world, according to the school’s key organizers of the 2015 challenge: Kimee Moore, media center apecialist, Susan Downs, reading specialist, and Julia Larkin, literacy coach.
The organizers were thrilled by how hard their students worked. The school staff celebrated the pupils’ achievements on Sept. 28. Newell alumni who are now in fifth grade were bused to the school to join in the celebration. Representatives from Scholastic Inc. joined the faculty and staff to honor the youngsters.
Moore said they spoke about the win and what it means.
“We read over 2.7 million minutes,” Moore said. “More than 6,200 schools participated worldwide. I am very proud that over the four years our school has competed, we have read over eight million minutes!”
A highlight of the celebration was watching Huggins live up to her promise and get a haircut from stylist Mark Cusato.
“Mrs. Huggins was reintroduced with her new style to the amazement of everyone,” Moore said.
Huggins’ hair was donated to Locks of Love, which makes hairpieces for individuals who have lost their hair to a disease.
Students were treated to an inflatable obstacle course as part of their prize for participating in the challenge. The top readers earned unlimited time on the obstacle course.
The organizers were moved by the level of support in the school community.
The PTA provided water ice and water for pupils participating in the competition and donated Scholastic Book Fair gift certificates for the top readers. Colonial Bowling contributed gift cards for the top readers and goody bags for all of the students.
The top class per grade earned a pizza party.
“Our students continue to amaze us as they improve every year and always meet the challenge,” Moore said. “As to next year, we can only imagine what Mrs. Huggins has up her sleeve. We will continue to set reading goals and determine various rewards for these goals. Most importantly though, we want to promote reading in a positive, fun manner year round.”
Downs said when students are excited about a series or a topic, it is important to encourage them to continue the journey.
“When you steer readers to dive into related books, they build connections that keep their reading light shining,” she said.
The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, sponsored by Scholastic Inc., was initiated to promote summer reading and to help prevent what some people refer to as the “summer slide,” when children are out of school.
Students can lose up to two reading levels during their vacation from school if they do not read regularly, according to Moore.
“The most important part about our success in the reading challenge is that it is a school-wide effort,” she said. “Everyone from our administrators to the teachers, cafeteria staff, to the custodians help our kids to succeed in the challenge.”
— Maureen Daye