Purple, pajamas, principal…perfect together!

FRANKLIN n The day that the third grade students of Franklin School had been anxiously awaiting finally arrived on Friday, June 3; the day when Principal Patricia Pfeil lived up to her promise and turned purple. To bring about the magic moment, the 57 third graders had accepted the challenge to read and report on 1,000 books with the assurance that Pfeil would reward their diligence with a perfectly purple performance. To accomplish their goal, they read before school and after school; they read during lunch and recess, and some were even seen walking through the halls reading - no easy feat. Principal Pfeil met the eager group of readers at the start of the school day dressed in purple polka dot pajamas and purple hair and holding a pack of purple balloons to the sounds of cheers and applause -- she applauding the perseverance of the children, and they cheering her as a "good sport." The project was a collaboration of teachers Diane Veldran, Karen Borek and Jaime Dippel and librarian Sandy Bargiel, and it was a resounding success. Not only did the students read the required amount of books, but they kept right on reading until they had finished 1,237 books. Then Principal Pfeil treated them to a reading of a book. What else? "Harold and the Purple Crayon." And as she read, the students were already thinking, what color can they choose next year? For more pictures, turn to page 2